Donnie's Adventures in Babysitting
by Donnie'sTwilight
Summary: Donnie has just gotten back from Japan after fifteen years of growing up with Shredder. In the sewers of New York where he built his lair, he finds seven little kids. Four of the seven are little mutants. The rest of them are human. Will Donnie abandon them and let them fend for themselves or will Donnie take them in and raise them by himself? Rated T for some language.
1. Interesting Discovery

_**Donnie's Adventures in Babysitting**_

**Title: **_Donnie's Adventures in Babysitting_

**Author:** _Donnie'sTwilight_

**Summary: **_Donnie has just gotten back from Japan after fifteen years of growing up with Shredder. In the sewers of New York where he had built his lair for himself, he finds seven little kids. Four of the seven are little mutants. The rest of them are human. Will Donnie abandon them and let them live on their own or will Donnie take them in and raise them by himself?_

**Pairings: **_none_

**Rating: **_T (for a little swearing-in later chapters)_

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own the Turtles. I never have and I never will, unless a miracle happens._

**A/N: **_Sorry for not updating my other story. This is just something I'm writing to get over my writer's block for The Beginning of Something Beautiful. I promise to update that story, but this is just a random story I thought up as I was watching how responsible Donnie feels over the Pulverizer (Timothy) and it's cute because Donnie can feel so protective over people._

* * *

**Chapter 1: **_Interesting Discovery_

**POV: **_Donnie's (None of the other characters are old enough to write from their point of view. :D)_

I will never look back on my past. It was a pretty cruel one. Now, it's not like I spent my entire life fending for myself, learning and growing up completely alone. No, that's what I wish would've happened. I was taken in after my mutation and I was abused by a guy who calls himself the Shredder. It was not fun. At all.

Sure, I learned lots of things from my past, but I would've preferred to live on my own and learn by myself. That would be better than living with the guy I grew up with.

I've been in New York for three days. I was raised in New York, but I moved to Japan four years ago when I was eleven. I'm hoping Shredder wouldn't guess that I'd go someplace I've liven in. Because he thinks it's too obvious for a genius like me to go to the one place I knew the best. That's exactly why I came here. I tricked him into thinking that I'd go to New York, so he'd think that I'd go someplace else because he really doesn't think I'm that stupid to give away my location before I'd leave. Yeah, or I'm just that smart for hiding right under his nose. So, it'll be a while before he realizes that I'm hiding in New York.

As you may have caught on, I'm a freaking genius. I'm probably the smartest person out there. Or...smartest mutant out there, at least. Yes, I am a mutant turtle. I've been one ever since before I was one. But, I have learned many things, from how to make toast to how to diffuse a nuclear bomb. Yeah, I've done that before. It was fun.

I sighed as I snuck back down into the sewers, heading for the lair I had created when I was living in New York. I left all of my things here before I moved to Japan. Luckily, I had a bag to take all of my stuff from Japan back with me. So, I have everything. I wasn't leaving anything behind me.

I smiled as I maneuvered past the alarms I had set. It was all old to me. They were simple little trip wires I set when I was five. I was just never down here long enough to improve them. So, it was rather easy to sneak past them. Only an idiot would not know how to get passed them. But, I did think they were cool when I was five. But, even though I could do better, I remembered by heart where each of them were.

I dropped my bag by the couch in my lair and I plopped down, getting a feel for the place. It's been a while since I've been here. And I was tired. Sure, I didn't have to do much to get here. All I really had to do was sneak past security in every single airport and wait for my flights, and then I didn't have to do anything else from there. Even though the airport at Denver is packed with security, I still made it past them without any one noticing anything. But, it could be tiring. At least Shredder probably thinks that I went somewhere in Asia. Eh, but that's his problem. Maybe he thinks I went to China. But, who knows? And who cares?

One of the reasons why I left was because Shredder kept insisting that I marry his daughter, Karai. Why he wanted a mutant turtle to marry his human daughter, I'll never know. I guess it was because I was a powerful ninja. That could be it. But, my problem was that I didn't like her. I thought that she was too over-confident of her work that she'll never be a true ninja. That's her problem now, though.

The other reason I left was because Shredder abused me. It was...in one word, cruel. Whenever I couldn't get a move right, he kept beating me to the ground every time I messed it up until I had it perfected. Maybe that's why I'm such a good ninja now. I've had a lot of training. But, training down here will be so much nicer. I won't have to worry about anyone hurting me. I'm on my own now. No one can tell me what to do if I mess up. But, I still probably won't mess up if I can help it. I'm slightly paranoid.

Suddenly, I heard something move from the opposite side of the room. Ninja instincts kicked in and I grabbed my Bo-staff from where it was on the floor. I slowly made my way over to the spot where I heard the sound coming from, drawing my Bo-staff in front of me. As I got closer, I realized it was not coming from inside the lair, but coming from one of the tunnels.

I tiptoed through the sewer water surrounding the lair, stepping over the trip wires with ease and precision. I paused mid-step when I heard crying coming from below me. I looked down and saw that a little figure was all caught in the last trip wire, completely entwined by it. Okay, when I said only an idiot wouldn't know how to pass them, I mean idiots _and_ babies or little kids don't know how to pass them.

But, I got down on my knees and quickly untied the little fella. I felt bad for him, and I felt partially guilty. He could've been seriously hurt because of me.

When I caught the eyes, they were reddish, almost brown. But, they were browner than mine. Mine were actually red. But, his eyes were cute.

"Oh, come here. I'm sorry," I murmured, picking him up. I cradled the little guy in my arms for all of two seconds before I realized that the little kid was a mutant. No human was that furry. I looked at him closer and found that he was a little mutant rat. He was pretty cute, though. I smiled down at the mutant and stood up. The little guy reached down for the ground. I set him down, confused. He pointed over to the shadows in the tunnel we were in. As I peered into the darkness, my other ninja senses kicked in, like being able to see better in the dark. I realized that six little kids sat in those shadows. I could see them clearly enough to tell that three of them were humans, and three of them were mutant turtles. Just like me. My eyes widened.

"How did you guys get down here?" I asked them before mentally slapping myself across the face. Of course they wouldn't know. They were just little babies. They wouldn't understand a word I said. But, I had to think logically. I've been a mutant for a long time. The farthest I could remember back was when I was first mutated. That was fifteen years ago. I could understand talking a day or two after that. I just couldn't talk for a while. So, even if they could understand me, they wouldn't be able to answer. Just great.

I contemplated on how I'd get them all home. I couldn't carry all seven of them in my arms without risk of either hurting one of them, dropping one of them, or forgetting one of them here. Then an idea popped into my head, like always.

"Stay here. I'll be right back," I told the seven of them and ran back to the lair, avoiding the trip wires. I grabbed my bag full of stuff and dumped everything on the couch. I darted back to the kids, hoping all of them had listened to me.

Luckily, they all hadn't moved. Good. I crouched down and scooped up the little rat. I set him down in the bag and he smiled up at me. I chuckled and picked up one of the little turtles. I winced when that one beat me in the head with his fist.

"You could at least be nice to me. I'm trying to help you," I sighed as I set that turtle in the bag next to the rat. The turtle didn't hit the rat and I was grateful for that. I'd be okay if he hit me. I'm used to so much more. But, it would not be okay if he hurt someone else. I turned to one of the humans this time. I decided to pick up one of the little boys. He hit me in the jaw, which hurt slightly. These kids had powerful swings. I shook my head and put him in the bag. I also put the other two humans in the bag. I didn't dare zip it up. I would just let them sit in it. I'd walk steadily enough so they wouldn't fall out and I'd be able to easily catch one of them if one of those two kids got volatile with the others and tried to push them out. I carried the other two turtles.

I walked back to the lair, keeping a good grip on the two turtles, one of which was really squirmy. Thankfully, the other one stayed still.

When I got back into the lair, I set the bag down on the floor by the couch slowly and I put the two turtles down. All of the little kids looked up at me aside from the two volatile kids, who were too busy hitting each other to focus on me. I put my hands between them and lightly shoved them away from each other. They sat in their new spots, not happy with me or the other. I shook my head. Kids can be such a pain.

"Okay, so I'm not exactly sure how to take care of little kids, since I've never had to do that before. But, I suppose it's necessary now. And I would really appreciate it if you could behave and make this easier for me," I started off, sitting cross-legged on the ground.

They all started at me with the same dumbfounded look on their faces. I scoffed. "Okay, we'll have to work on that because you'll have to pay attention to me if you ever want to survive here. Because I'm nice now. If you don't listen, you will see a side of me that nobody likes," I warned them.

I saw one of the turtles-the squirmy turtle, I believe-reach for the couch. I looked up and saw that my stuff was about to fall off of the couch, some already laying on the floor. I scooped everything up and I shoved it all back in the bag, zipping it up. The little turtle began to wail.

I sighed and pulled the simplest thing from my bag. Also, the thing least likely to hurt him. It was a piece of fruit that I had saved. I handed it to the little guy and he squealed as he took it into his hands and shoved it in his mouth happily. I saw all the others looking at me expectantly.

"Okay, I'll be right back with fruit for all of you," I said and stood up. I went out to the kitchen and grabbed some fruit out of the fridge. I had been allowed to visit New York a week before I left, and so when I wasn't being watched, I snuck down here and restocked the kitchen, because at that point, I knew I was running back here. I was pretty good on food and stuff to drink. Thankfully, I still had like about twenty-seven frozen bags of coffee in the freezer. I was good on coffee for a while. And I brought back even more from Japan. Yum. Coffee.

I sat back down with the fruits and I used one of my shuriken to slice up the fruit. I knew it was bad for my shuriken, to be used for something other than ninja training and in battle, but I could always make more. I'm good at making them.

I handed out the pieces of fruit and I made sure that none of them stole any fruit from the others around them. Except the volatile turtle tried to take the piece of fruit from the baby rat. I have the baby turtle a glare and the turtle backed off. I guess red eyes glaring at you can only be scary to anyone. I was just lucky I had red eyes, although I'm not evil. The rat smiled at me. I smiled back.

"I'm keeping my eye on you," I warned the turtle who grumbled a bit under his breath, and it was just unintelligible babble.

"Good. Now, I imagine you guys are all tired. I don't know how long you guys have been without food, or water, or sleep, so if you need anything, just please try to get my attention. I'm willing to get you just about anything," I told them, smiling an assuring smile. Now, I just had to find a place for them to sleep. I mean, the only real mattress I have is in my room, and I don't want them in there now, so I have to use an air mattress for them. I probably have an air mattress around here somewhere. I'm pretty good with back-up of just about anything. Like mattresses.

I told them to stay put and I ran up to my room. I dug around in the closet in my room, hoping to find the stupid air mattress. It better be in here because I don't ever remember getting rid of it or taking it anywhere else. Normally, I shove things I get but don't need in my closet. And if I don't need it, I don't move it.

Ah, ha! Here it is! I grabbed it down from the top shelf and went back down to the kids.

I found that the little squirmy turtle was trying to pick up the shuriken, all the others watching him. I gasped and grabbed the shuriken before he could touch it. "No one touches the weapons in this place. Do you hear me?" I demanded. I really didn't want them to hurt themselves with _my_ weapons. I'd feel directly guilty even though it wasn't directly my fault.

I'm surprised the squirmy turtle didn't start crying at my actions and cold voice. I guess I must sound like I know what I'm talking about. All of them must get that by now. And I do know what I'm talking about. I've known about what I'm talking about ever since I was little and I could talk.

I set the box on the floor, sliding the shuriken into a little pocket in my belt. I opened the box and pulled the folded-up air mattress out. I watched as the little kids' eyes lit up.

"You like this, huh? Well, you'll love it even more when you find out that I can blow air into it," I said and moved the box out of the way. I found the little opening to put air in it and I held it to my mouth. They watched with interest as I puffed air into it.

I blew air into it for a few minutes until it was full of air. I closed the hole and they all smiled at me, even the volatile ones. I smiled back.

"Okay. This is where you guys will be sleeping," I explained to them. I grabbed the rat and set him on the bed. He giggled a bit and laid back on it. Now, all of them were reaching for me so I'd put them on the mattress. Okay, maybe this won't be that bad. I mean, the only way they'd pop it is if they jumped on it-as far as I can tell, they couldn't even stand, more or less jump-or if they started poking it with sharp objects, which I won't let them have. Teeth were a different story. The rat had little teeth, which makes me think that he's a little older than the rest of them. I bet he wouldn't chew on it, though. But, hey, you never know.

I went back up to my room and pulled out extra pillows and blankets. I brought them all downstairs and dumped them on the mattress. The little kids squealed with delight, which I thought was absolutely adorable.

I kneeled on the bed and organized the pillows at the top. I moved all the kids so their heads were laying on the pillows and I tucked them in. I was about to get up when I felt little hands on mine. I looked at them and saw that the rat, one of the human baby boys-not the volatile one-the baby human girl, and two of the three baby turtles-the squirmy one and the quiet one-had their hands on mine. I sighed and smiled.

"Okay. I'll sleep down here with you guys tonight," I told them. I got up briefly and took off any weapons I had on me. I put them all on the couch with my bag before crawling onto the air mattress and wiggling under the blankets next to the kids. I said goodnight to all of them and before I knew it, I was fast asleep.

* * *

**A/N: **_Okay, so in case you could not figure this out by now, here's a guide below to each kid and who they are._

_The rat : Splinter(duh)_

_The volatile turtle : Raph(who else?)_

_The volatile human boy : Casey_

_The little human girl : April_

_The squirmy turtle : Mikey_

_The silent turtle : Leo_

_The nice human boy : Timothy (The Pulverizer) (because I think he would look cute as a kid and Donnie is already so protective of Timothy anyway, as seen in the new turtles series)_

_ The season of the new turtles just ended today. I have to wait until September for season 2! It looks good, though, and worth the wait! I'll probably update again today because I miss the new turtles._


	2. Bath Time!

**Pairings: **_none_

**A/N: **_I promise I will update The Beginning of Something Beautiful soon. I'm still thinking of ideas. I'll probably update today. It all depends on if I have to do anything today._

* * *

**Chapter 2: **_Bath Time!_

**POV: **_Donnie's (None of the other characters are old enough to write from their point of view. :D)_

In the morning when I woke up, I could not get up without disturbing every single little kid. All of them, even the volatile ones, were curled up against me somewhere, the silent turtle even laying on my plastron with his head nuzzled between my shoulder and my head. It was cute.

I decided I'd just lay here until they woke up. It was really kind of nice to just lay back after a long day yesterday. Okay, well, one of them was already awake. The little squirmy turtle was up and he sat by my head. He was chewing on his toes. Or, really, sucking on his toes since he didn't have any teeth. That I knew about.

"Hey, little guy," I said to him. I chuckled when he looked around the room to find out who was talking to him. I couldn't move my arms-they were being hugged to my sides-to tap on him softly so he'd know it was me.

"Down here," I continued and he looked at his toes. I cracked up. He eventually looked at me after I had calmed down and he smiled. I smiled back up at him. "How long have you been up?" I didn't wait for an answer because I knew he couldn't answer. I've gotta quit doing that. "Hey, can you tap your friend here?" I asked him, gesturing to the silent turtle with my chin. The squirmy turtle kept looking at me. I sighed. "The one who's laying on me."

No response. Of course. So I was going to have to get up on my own. I giggled softly when I felt someone sucking on my toes. I just couldn't see over the silent turtle to find out who was doing it. I heard the squirmy turtle laugh a bit. "Okay, can you at least go find out who's doing that to me?" I asked him. I mentally slapped myself again. Quit doing that, Donnie!

I tried to wiggle one of my arms free, but I guess that just wasn't possible. I lifted my head a bit to look around me. Okay, so the volatile kids had one arm. The little human girl had my other arm. That shouldn't be a problem to get my arm from her. But, it was hard. She would not let go.

I think she eventually felt me trying to break loose, because she woke up a few minutes after I started trying. "Hey, can you let go of my arm? Please. I need to get up and I can't get up if I can't get everyone off of me," I murmured to her. It must've gotten through to her because she let go of her grip on my arm and she rubbed her eyes as she sat up slowly. "Thank you so much."

I poked the silent turtle in the shell and his face twitched a bit. But, he did eventually wake up. I smiled at him and he looked back at me. "Hey, I need you to get off of me. I really need to get up and get a cup of coffee or else I'm going to go crazy and nobody wants that. Alright?" I pleaded. He slid down off of me and he laid down on the pillows, closing his eyes again. He must be exhausted.

I used my hand to pry my arm out of the volatile kids' grasp-it doesn't surprise me that they had strong grips-and they eventually let go of me. After they woke up and slapped my hand away at first. Well, the human did. The turtle still slept through the whole thing. It was kind of hysterical that he was sucking his thumb. I smiled and shook my head as I slipped my arm free. Now time to find out who was sucking on my toes, because that really tickled.

I sat up and looked down at my feet. The nice human boy was just hugging my foot. The rat sucked on my toe on my other foot. Okay, I have no clue what was with these kids and turtle toes. But, it was adorable.

I sat there for a minute, waiting for them to wake up. When they didn't, I slowly slipped my foot from the boy's loose arms. It was quite easy. How to separate the rat and my toes, I don't know at this point in time. I need coffee if I plan on thinking today. And I was faced with a problem because I can't go get my coffee until I get the rat off of my foot and I can't get him off of my foot until I go get coffee. I'll probably be here all day.

The girl must've known that I was faced with a problem because she made her way down the mattress and slowly tapped the little rat. The rat blinked a few times before looking around and meeting the girl's eyes. The rat looked up at me.

"Good morning. I sort of need to get up and I can't if you're sucking on my toes," I said to the little rat. His face fell, but he let my foot go. "Oh, thank you so much." I stood up, stretching. Oh, it felt good to sleep on a bed last night. I haven't done that in a long time. Maybe four weeks.

"Okay, you guys. I'm going to go get you guys something to eat, since I'm sure you're hungry," I said and walked out to the kitchen. I got my coffee going while I sliced up fruit with a _real _knife. Sure, I was paranoid that they could walk and I haven't noticed. Because that would mean that they could touch my stuff. And that would be a nightmare.

When my coffee was done, I took the coffee mug and the plate of fruit back out to the kids.

The squirmy turtle groped the air in my direction when he saw me. Maybe they-or just that specific turtle, I don't know-are starting to catch on that I'm here to give stuff for them and that I have everything they need. And that if I weren't here, they wouldn't be able to have stuff.

I sat down at the edge of the bed on the floor and they all crowded around me, everyone awake by now. Good. I didn't feel like making any of them mad at me for waking them up.

I quickly handed out the pieces of fruit to the hungry kids and when the plate was empty, I took a sip of my coffee. Ugh. It tasted bad. I was in too much of a hurry to add anything sweet to it. Something _really_ sweet, like whipped cream or sugar or maybe even vanilla. I can't drink plain coffee anymore. It just isn't right. But, I don't think they'd let me get up and put something in my coffee.

But, maybe they might. I gracefully slid free of their grasps and they all watched me hopefully, probably really wishing that I'm getting up to bring them more food. Eh, it's worth a shot. I scooped up the plate and traveled back to the kitchen.

They've probably starved in the sewers long before I found them. That's probably why they're so hungry. Poor kids. I felt bad for them, although I've starved, too. It isn't pleasant.

I cut up more fruit after I put sugar and whipped cream in my coffee. I took a sip of it while I cut up fruit and I sighed. Ah, that's good stuff.

I took my now-tasty-coffee and the second round of fruit back out to the living room. I distributed the fruit, watching to make sure no one got robbed of their share. This time while I finished eating, I sat on the edge of the couch. They weren't too happy about that, but they couldn't complain.

After they finished a third plate of fruit and I finished my cup of coffee, I sat down on the floor in front of the air mattress. I would need more coffee if I ever wanted to make it through this without hurting them. Because if a coffee addict doesn't get his coffee, bad things happen to good people. And I was a serious coffee addict. Also, they were driving me up a wall. The two volatile kids kept arguing with each other-well, not necessarily arguing because they weren't saying any real words-and hitting each other. I would not get along with them if they didn't knock it off.

"Okay, so now that you've eaten at least six pieces of fruit since you've been here, it's time to get you guys cleaned up. Juice can get sticky and I'm sure you guys have gotten yourselves sticky in every way possible for you guys. So, bath time," I sighed. I half-expected them to groan, but they-surprisingly-didn't look even the slightest bit sad. They all looked…happy that it was bath time. Odd. I had never liked bath time. It cut into my work too much. I'm surprised I still showered without having Shredder tell me what to do.

"So, how am I supposed to do this?" I asked myself. "If I leave you guys down here while I bathe each of you, you'd either leave or touch my stuff, neither of which are acceptable. Or I could take you up to the bathroom and crowd you in there with me. And it's a small bathroom so that would be a problem." I contemplated my options to myself.

In the end, I took all of them upstairs the same way I brought them here. The volatile turtle actually tried to push the little rat out, but I caught him in my hand. He was about the size of the turtles. I carried him in my arms along with the turtles to the bathroom.

Once inside, I shut the door behind us. Okay, note to self. I'd definitely have to make this bathroom bigger somehow. Because it would be cramped with seven little kids and me, who's a full-sized mutant turtle. And three of the seven kids are mutant turtles. So, they'd be getting big. The rat is rather big for being so young, too. Maybe he's older or something. He's probably the oldest.

"Okay, who's going first?" I asked them after I set them all down on the ground. It wasn't actually as bad as I thought it was going to be.

Nobody answered me, although they all looked like they wanted to raise their hands. They're probably waiting for something to raise their hand first so they don't look like a fool for being the first one. I was that way when I was little. Or maybe they couldn't raise their hands. I smiled as I closed my eyes. I waved my finger around, and I opened my eyes when I stopped moving my finger to see who was first. It was the rat.

Before I got the water running, I checked how many towels I had. Damn it! Why must I have only two?! I sighed. Okay, I'm a genius. We have to make this work. Maybe three or four per towel. I just need to dry them off and let the towel dry while I gave the next person a bath. I can make this work. I'm good at improvising.

The rat sat in my lap as I turned the faucet in the tub on. As I watched it pour into the tub at a good temperature for me, I thought about naming them. I'd have to name them at some point. That would take a while to name them all, though. I'd have to think for a while first. But, no time for that now.

I heard the rat gasp as he saw the water and heard the water. He reached his paw/hand out to the water and I picked him up and sat him on the edge of the tub, me keeping a good grip on him. He kept leaning forward until the water touched his hand-it's more of a hand anyway-and he giggled as the water ran over his fingers. "Yeah, it's fun, isn't it?" I mentioned. I stared in shock when the rat nodded slightly. Wait, he understood me? More importantly, he knows how to nod?! Yeah, the rat is definitely the oldest. None of the others had nodded when I had asked them a question.

Once the tub was filled halfway with water, I sat the rat in the water. I noticed how all the others tried peering around me into the bathtub. But, they didn't move for whatever reason. I'm sure they could if they wanted to. They didn't even crawl. Interesting. I mean, they were slightly crawling this morning. Now, they're doing nothing. So, I decided to help them. I moved all six of them forward so they could see.

I gave the rat a bath quickly, so I could get this over with. Once he was done, I dried him with the towel thoroughly so he was dry enough. It was warm down here in the middle of June. He would dry by himself if he wasn't dry by now.

I blew right through all the others' baths. I eventually got bored of doing nothing except for bathing them, so halfway through the little girl's bath-which she was second-I started humming to my favorite songs. I had a lot of favorites because I listened to _way _too much music.

After they were all clean, I regretted bathing them because right afterwards, they were all hungry. So, I had no choice but to give them something to drink and some more fruit. I should've fed them right before their baths. But, I thought I had. I guess they just got hungry really fast.

I laid back on the air mattress at nine at night. I was exhausted. Raising kids is exhausting. I was too tired to do anything else except for sleep. They were still bouncy and hyped up, though. I groaned, "Don't you have anything better to do?"

They obviously did not because they were still all wide awake. I sighed. "Go to sleep," I muttered, burying my face under the pillows to block out the light. And their annoying babble that I could not understand at all.

I felt someone tap on my shoulder and I looked out of the pillows to see which one of the kids it was. It was the little girl. "Hey. Are you going to sleep now, too?" I asked her. She didn't answer as she curled up next to me. I stiffened, not sure what to do. I eventually smiled blissfully and closed my eyes. A few seconds later, I felt the rest of them curl up next to me, cuddling against my plastron. Even the volatile ones. I was starting to think that they might stop being mean to _me_ since I was giving them things. But, I didn't care of the reason at this point in time. All I could think about was that they were all looking to me for comfort and I was being comforted at the same time. And it was nice. I fell asleep with a big smile on my face.


	3. Stuffed Toys

**Pairings: **_none_

**A/N: **_This takes place a week or two after the last chapter. Donnie has still not named all the kids yet. Yes, I will do one-shots of things that happen in between the chapters, because this story is cute. And thanks to angelchamp3 for reviewing! Oh, and sorry that this chapter sucks. I sort of lost inspiration halfway through, so I had no idea where it was going while I was writing. But, I wanted to update today, so...I had to finish it._

* * *

**Chapter 3: **_Stuffed Toys_

**POV: **_Donnie's (None of the other characters are old enough to write from their point of view. :D)_

I walked into the room, holding my bag behind my back. They all looked up at me curiously. "What in the bag?" the rat asked slowly. He had talked for the past day or so. He wasn't all that good at that, but he was getting there.

"You're all about to find out," I chuckled and sat down on the floor. They all made their way over to me. I set the bag on the floor and unzipped it.

"Toys!" the rat said excitedly. They all knew what toys were, which was a good thing.

I pulled out the plush teddy bear and handed it to the volatile boy. I knew he probably wouldn't like anything I gave him. I gave the plush killer whale to the volatile turtle, because he was a violent little guy. The plush bunny was for the silent turtle. I also gave the squirmy turtle a teddy bear, which he loved. The stuffed turtle was for the rat. He happened to love turtles, as I've caught on. I gave a stuffed cat to the human girl. And I gave the stuffed bat to the nice human boy. I noticed how the two volatile kids exchanged toys so the volatile turtle had the stuffed bear. Okay, so he had a soft side. Maybe the boy was a little more violent than the turtle. But, who cares? Other than that, everyone was happy.

I smiled when they all hugged me in thanks. I hugged them all back, glad that they were happy. They loved toys and when I had brought out all the toys I had played with when I was younger, one happened to be my teddy bear, whom was very special to me. They had all fought over him, so I decided to get them stuffed toys of their own so they'd leave my teddy bear alone. And I guess it worked. They were all obsessed over their toys.

It still bothered me that I hadn't thought of good names for them yet. I had thought of names for them, but none of them really fit them. I eventually decided that for the turtles, they should have odd names, along with the rat and the volatile boy. They weren't exactly normal little kids. The girl and the nice boy were okay for names. I didn't have to go all out for their names.

But, I noticed that they all got along with one another when they had their stuffed toys with them. Like, they all played together. Except for the girl. She didn't want to play with them. She kept coming back to me.

"What's wrong? Don't you want to play with them?" I asked her. She shook her head as she climbed into my lap. "Is it because cats don't get along with any of their toys?" She didn't answer, so maybe she didn't know that. "Well, let me give you a hint. Bats don't really get along with any of their toys, either. And bears don't get along with any of them, either. I'm not really sure about bunnies, but I know for a fact that killer whales don't get along with turtles at all."

She sighed. Apparently I wasn't making her feel any better, so that's not the case. Then something occurred to me. "Is it because they're all boys and you're a girl?" She nodded into my plastron, hugging her cat to her. I sighed. I had a feeling that this would happen. "Well, I'm a boy." She shook her head and I started laughing. Okay, that was funny even though I'm sure it's an insult and she doesn't know it. "Yeah, I am. I'm a boy. I'm your _dad_. I kind of have to be a boy."

She held up her cat to me. I looked at her. "What are you trying to tell me?" I asked her. "Do you want me to play with you?" She nodded. "Okay, stay here. I'll go get my teddy bear."

I set her down and ran back upstairs. I spotted my teddy bear on my bed and I quickly grabbed it, heading back downstairs.

I sat back down and showed her my teddy bear. She smiled. "Good. I figured it out," I chuckled.

I wasn't quite sure how to play without talking, but obviously the guys figured it out quick. I thought about this for a minute. "Okay, so our stuffed toys are going to be the best of friends," I told her. She nodded seriously. "Hmmm."

But, when I looked at her, she looked really tired. She yawned and rubbed her eyes. "Hey, are you sure you want to play?" I asked her. She shook her head. "Do you want to sleep instead?" She nodded tiredly. I scooped her up and brought her over to the mattress and I set her down. She looked up at me. "Okay, I'll lay with you." I sat down and laid back next to her. She curled up next to me, hugging her stuffed cat. I kept a good grip on my teddy bear.

Before I could fall asleep with her, I felt a stuffed animal land on my face. I reached up and snatched it off of my face. It was the stuffed bear. But, who's?

The squirmy turtle sat on the ground, in tears. The volatile kids were laughing, and the silent turtle just sat off to the side, tears in his eyes, watching the scene before him. He looked really sorry for the squirmy turtle.

"Hey, you guys. Don't take your brother's toy," I snapped at the laughing kids. I brought the stuffed toy back to the squirmy turtle. He sniffled before giving me a slight smile. I turned back to the laughing kids, who were now staring at me. "How many times do I have to tell you guys that…" I trailed off, looking around the room. Where the heck are the other two kids?

I spun around in a circle on my heel, looking around. I smiled when I saw that the rat and the nice boy had climbed into the bed with the girl, keeping her close. They had their stuffed toys with them. I looked back at the volatile kids.

"Okay, let's find something else to keep you guys busy since you are not being so nice to your brother," I said to them. I picked up the squirmy turtle and the silent turtle. "Come on. Let's go."

The volatile turtle walked after me while the boy crawled. All of the mutants could walk. The humans had to crawl. But, I liked carrying the two turtles. They were really nice to me, even if the squirmy turtle didn't like to be held.

I brought them into the dojo I had made when I was eleven, the year I moved to Japan. I set them down and pulled out my Bo-staff. "Okay, so what you guys haven't learned yet is that I plan on raising you all to be ninjas," I told them. I noticed the silent turtle look up at me excitedly. All of the others cheered the best they could.

I had learned that when little kids sleep, there's no waking them, so I figured that the three in the living room wouldn't be moving for a while.

"So, what that means is that eventually with time, you'll be as good as me," I said to them. I began slowly spinning around in my hands, gradually getting faster. They all look interested. "But, I don't expect you to want to use my weapon. I mean, you can if you want to. I'd be able to help you the best, but I do know how to use other weapons, as well. I just prefer to use this one."

I handed my Bo-staff to the silent turtle. I gave the others a glare to make sure they didn't try to take it from him. His eyes were wide as he ran his fingers over it, looking at it. "It's cool, isn't it?" I asked him. He nodded rapidly as he handed it back to me. I passed it around to each kid, letting them look at it. But, apparently the volatile turtle found out the secret weapon in the staff. When he slid out the blade in it, they all screamed and I took it from them.

"Okay, nobody touches it anymore. The rest of you are lucky you didn't do that," I sighed, and crouched down by the volatile turtle who was on the brink of tears. "Are you hurt?"

He shook his head, but he threw himself into my arms. I closed my eyes and hugged him back. I felt him sob into my plastron and I pulled him into my lap.

"So you guys aren't ready for that yet," I murmured to all of them. "Don't worry. We don't have to do that again. I was just hoping that you wouldn't find the blade."

I mean, I wasn't all that shocked when I first found that out. I woke up with a katana blade aimed at my head the day that Shredder took me in. Not fun, so I didn't have a weakness for blades anymore. But, they obviously did. And I wouldn't do that again until they were a bit older.

"Come on. I'm sure you're all tired. Let's go sleep," I said and brought them all back out to the living room, just carrying the volatile turtle, who was as silent as the other one at this point. He stayed curled up in my arms, holding his teddy bear close.

"I'm sorry," I whispered to him.

"It okay, Daddy," he whispered back and I froze, pausing mid-step. Did he just talk? Oh, wow. I smiled down at him and kept walking.

I laid him down on the bed and helped the others get under the blankets. I laid down, too, keeping all of them close. They'd all be alright. I knew it. And if the volatile turtle could talk to me, I'm sure they all could, too. With time. Also, I knew I was right to have gotten them toys. He probably wouldn't have talked to me today if they didn't have their toys. I smiled to myself as I slowly drifted to sleep.


	4. Secret Training

**Pairings: **_none_

**A/N: **_Sorry for taking so long with updating this story. I ran out of ideas for this story. I'm probably not going to update this story or Imagining the Impossible at night or on weekdays anymore. It's just that I have a schedule to pick up from last year now that school is starting in two days. I'm probably not going to be able to continue it, but I have to try. At least in two days, I don't have to wake up all that early since I go to school about noon because it's a half day. Anyway, on with the story!_

* * *

**Chapter 4: **_Secret Training_

**POV: **_Donnie's_

I think I'm getting better with parenting. Like, seriously. I've named all of them, I always keep them happy—except for when the volatile kids are mean—I keep them fed, I keep them hydrated, I keep them well-rested, and I have been basically keeping an eye on them 24/7. I do train while they're sleeping so I don't fall too behind on it, which is a good thing.

I also figured out their ages. Timothy is the oldest, as he's actually a year and a half old. Splinter follows after, as he's a year old. April is seven months old. Casey is also seven months. Leonardo is three months old, Raphael is two and a half months old, and Michelangelo is actually two months, despite how little he is.

I found that because Michelangelo, or Mikey as I would start calling him because he wants to be called that, is the youngest, Casey and Raphael treat him like such a little baby, which he isn't. Casey has no room to talk, as he can't talk or walk, like Mikey can.

So, all of them can speak a bit, aside from Casey. April has said one word, and that's it, which is cool because most little kids at that age can't talk at all, like Casey. Timothy has said a few things, but not much. Splinter is getting better at talking, and he's able to say a sentence or two before he becomes unintelligible again. Leonardo is talking a bit, too, and so has Raphael and Michelangelo. But, out of the three turtles, Leonardo is talking the most.

Everyone—except for Casey and April—can at the very least toddle a few steps. The mutants have actually been able to run halfway across the room. Timothy is beginning to walk, and he's not very good at it, but I don't expect them to be perfect at such a young age. Casey and April still have to crawl, but I mainly carry April everywhere. I let Casey crawl after getting a black eye when I tried to carry him somewhere. It seriously hurt, and I know pain like the back of my hand. I didn't expect him to be so strong when he's so little.

I sighed as I stood up from the bed. They are obsessed with keeping me on the air mattress with them. I managed to sneak up when they've been out for an hour. Then I go train, which is exactly what I'm going to do now.

I trained simply, since I normally wasn't up for much more than that. Those kids really tire me out. I never have enough energy to do the really advanced stuff I had learned ever since I turned one.

"Donnie?" I heard one of the kids say, and I swear, the kid was right behind me. I whirled around and found Leonardo standing in the doorway.

"Oh, hey, Leonardo. Did you walk here all the way from the lair?" I asked him. He nodded. "Well, what are you doing up?"

"You weren't there," he mumbled.

"Aw, Leonardo. I didn't go far, and you obviously know where to find me at night if you need me. I'm never that far," I told him as I walked back to him, dropping my Bo-staff on the floor.

"Donnie, can I see?" he asked me, pointing at the staff.

I got down on my knees in front of him. "Leonardo, remember last time? You all freaked out at that. I don't want to scare you anymore," I said.

He ignored my words and stumbled over to the Bo-staff. I gulped as I watched him. He warily picked it up, looking it over again. "Cool," he breathed and I chuckled. He held it out to me.

"Do you want me to look at it?" I asked him. He shook his head.

"Do the thing you did the first time," he said. Oh, that makes sense.

I took it from his grasp and stepped back a few steps. I slowly began twirling it, getting faster. He watched with honest excitement and interest. When I finished, he started clapping. I smiled at him.

"You know, I think you're getting ready to start training with me, Leonardo. I honestly do. Do you want to?" I questioned and he nodded quickly. So cute. "Okay, then."

I taught him only one thing, and that was just a simple defense pose. I made sure he perfected it, but I didn't dare hurt him any time he messed up, like what Shredder did.

I only helped him by adjusting his pose a bit, and using instinct to make him try it, meaning I made it look like I was going to attack him and he naturally used the pose I taught him to try to defend it. I never hurt him, though. He was pretty good at it.

"I have a feeling that someday you're going to grow up to be a great ninja like me," I told him as I walked him back to bed. He looked up at me.

"You really think so, Donnie?" he asked me. I nodded, smiling at him.

"Of course. You're a natural," I said. I felt him hold onto one of my fingers for support, which I was used to doing. That was how he learned to walk. He would use one of my fingers to hold onto and I'd slowly walk forward and have him walk with me. It worked pretty well, because the ones that can walk normally don't have a problem.

I tucked Leo back into the bed, and I counted the children. One, two, three, four, five, six….Wait, where's the seventh one?! I counted again, and I got the same result? Where's April?!

I looked around the lair desperately, hoping I could find her. April was the one I worried about the most because she's so tiny for her age, and she's the only girl here. I feel like a lot of the time, she doesn't have a companion because of that, so I stuck around her more. Now, where is she?!

I went back to the dojo, hoping she had the same idea about where I was that Leonardo did.

I was lucky. She was sitting in the middle of the dojo, and I could tell that she was crying, although she wasn't making any noise.

I ran over to her and got down on the floor, pulling her into my lap. She looked up at me before burying her face in my plastron.

"It's okay, April. I'm here," I murmured softly. And this was exactly why I was worried about her. She was the one who tended to disappear when her brothers wouldn't play with her. She always wound up in different places. One time, I even found her up on the second floor in the bathroom. I have no idea how she got up there, though. She was always looking for me when she disappeared, even if I was about three feet from her and I was in plain sight.

She eventually calmed down enough to stop crying. "Daddy," she mumbled, which was all she could normally manage. I ran my hand over her head calmly, keeping her close.

"Shh. It's okay. I'm here for you," I whispered, holding her closer. She nodded slightly before her eyes slipped shut and they never reopened. I slowly stood up and carried her back to the bed. But, I found that she did not want to let go. I didn't really want to wake her up by forcing her hand from my arm, so I grabbed her cat and I carried her upstairs.

I propped the door to my room open as I walked in and climbed up onto my bed. I crawled under the covers, trying not to move her too much. After I got in, I tucked her cat in next to her and I closed my eyes, trying to fall asleep. And it worked. April was the one I normally slept around because she always kept me calm enough to fall asleep. Except for when she was disappearing.

The next night, Leonardo didn't even bother falling asleep. And I noticed that April didn't, either.

"April, what are you still doing up?" I asked her when she said my name. She tended to switch between calling me "Donnie" and "Daddy." Eh, I suppose they sound alike a bit.

She held her arms out towards me. I sighed and scooped her up.

"Is she coming with, Donnie?" Leonardo asked me. Yeah, he preferred to call me by name, although there have been a few times where he's called me "Daddy."

"Yeah. But don't worry. She won't be a problem," I said to him. He nodded silently.

I carried April to the dojo and Leonardo walked after us. I have noticed how Leonardo and April tend to get along better than she gets along with all her other brothers. Timothy and Splinter do get along with her more than the rest, but Leonardo is closer to her. I think Raphael, Mikey, and Casey don't like her as much because she's a girl. I didn't really approve of that, but I can't force them to do things, like being nice to their sister.

I set April down against the wall and she whined a bit, trying to grab my hand. "April, can you stay there? I have to do something with your brother. Trust me. You get to do the same thing when you're old enough," I assured her, so she wouldn't cry. I never liked it when any of them cried, but when April cried, it felt like my heart was breaking.

She nodded glumly. I tested Leonardo to see if he could remember what I taught him last night. Good, he knows it.

I taught him another simple pose, so we wouldn't get too advanced for Leonardo. He could do this one with ease, too. I found that he was really good at this. It was like he was born to become a ninja. I sure hope the others catch on this fast.

At midnight, I took Leonardo and April back to bed, but, same as last night, April refused to let go of me. She was wide awake, and I knew that, but she would not let go. I smiled down her. I think I got what she was trying to do. She must either really like me, my room, or my bed—or all three—because I know she's just trying to get to sleep in my bed with me. I was okay with this, though. Because I knew that she was happy, and that's all that mattered.


	5. Bedtime Stories

**Pairings: **_none_

**A/N: **_Yay! Another chapter! My inspiration for this story is back. Partly because I absolutely love the idea of Donnie having to babysit everyone. Just a heads up, this chapter takes place about four weeks after the last chapter, so Leo's training more and April and Casey just started walking. They're all talking now, even if it's just a few words at a time. _

**Chapter 5: **_Bedtime Stories_

**POV: **_Donnie's_

I had set out to make them all bedrooms a few days ago. I'm actually getting tired of sleeping on the air mattress or on the couch. I'd prefer to sleep in a real bed, which I don't manage all that much anymore due to the fact that I'm pretty much up all night with Leonardo and April. I normally just crash on the air mattress, which is killing me. I occasionally sleep in my own bed, but even then, April's with me.

I have gotten almost no alone time in the past week. I would like to, but I apparently can't leave them unsupervised for less than two minutes. Ever since Casey started walking, my days have been nightmares because he goes _everywhere._ I'm not even joking. He can and will go everywhere he wants to just because he can walk. Raphael joins him, and they cause a lot of trouble.

Also, ever since Casey started walking, both he and Raphael have been nicer to Mikey. Now, they race each other across the lair, and I have dealt with more scrapes and bruises on each of them because of that. I always have to watch them to try to keep them from tripping. I'm so afraid that one of them will land on their face, which—luckily—hasn't happened. Yet. I know it will. Because those three are absolutely reckless.

April has started walking, too. It's a good thing, although I still carry her. She really likes it when that happens and I try to keep her happy as much as possible. I guess I just have a really soft spot of her that I don't have for the others. Part of the reason is because she's the only girl and if I can keep the girl happy, I'm good, since the guys can be picky. I should know. She's probably also the nicest to me. I like that about her. She's going to grow up being really nice to everyone except for her brothers.

I smiled at that thought as I mapped out the plan for the bedrooms. I didn't want to make seven _different _rooms. For one, I don't have enough room in the lair for all seven of them unless they wanted small rooms. So, I was pairing them up. I'm sure they wouldn't mind.

I plan on making four rooms. They were all going to be the same size as mine, and mine is pretty big. I was splitting them up by their personalities. Raphael—or Raph as he liked to be called now for whatever reason—was going with Casey. Michelangelo would be with Timothy, because they can both be troublemakers, but they're not as bad as Raph and Casey together. Leonardo would be going with Splinter, since they're both really nice and behaved. And April gets her own room because I am really not going to make her share a room with a guy. Maybe I'll decide to find more places so they each can have their own room once they're older, but for now, I really only felt like making four rooms.

I had the entire lair mapped out, so I could put the rooms in the perfect places. All of them were going to end up being on the top floor. April's room was going to be right next to mine. Then, Leonardo and Splinter's room would be next to hers, so if she couldn't get to me, she could go to them and not have to walk that far. Timothy and Michelangelo's room would be next to theirs, and then Raphael and Casey's room at the far end of the balcony hallway. I wanted their room to be as far away from mine as possible. They were going to give me such a headache if they were any closer.

The nice thing is that I have the ability to choose who they share with, so eventually I might switch them if they start to be a problem—meaning Raph and Casey—so I would probably end up putting Raph with Leonardo and Casey with Splinter. But, the one thing I knew for sure was that April was always going to have her own room. There's no way I'm pairing her up with someone, and if I do choose to make her share with someone so I can put either Raph or Casey in her room to separate them, she'll be sharing with me.

No, I don't have a crush on her. I just feel like that no matter who I pair her up with, she won't be happy. She'd want to share with me, if she does end up having to share with someone. I just really want her to be happy, and she is normally the happiest with me. Even though I don't have a crush on her, I have a feeling she has a really soft spot for me.

I sat down at the end of the air mattress with a book. I decided to start reading them bedtime stories. And I noticed that Leonardo wants to take a break from training, although I don't push him to do it and he seems to be getting a lot better. Also, April doesn't really feel like staying up that late and if I stay up, she will, too. See? She's closer to me than anyone else.

Almost everyone looked at the book in my hands. "What that?" Casey asked stubbornly. Yeah, ever since Casey could speak at least one word, he's been saying just about anything he can. It's getting sort of annoying because when I try to meditate while keeping an eye out for the kids, he yells in my ear. I have no idea why. Raph never does that. Maybe he doesn't like it when I close my eyes. I don't know. I'm surprised he doesn't do that when I try to sleep.

"It's a book, Casey. I'm going to read to you guys," I explained softly. Casey and Raph frowned and looked away from me. Okay, so they don't like stories. I guess I'll just read to the kids who actually looked interested in what I'm going to do, basically everyone except for those two.

I read for half an hour before I realized that the kids—or almost all of them—had been asleep for a while. The only ones up were Mikey and April. I'm surprised even Leo was out.

"Do you want me to keep reading to you guys?" I asked them.

"Yes," Mikey said and April nodded. I smiled. April doesn't like to talk much. I know she can talk, but she just chooses not to. She only really talks when she's trying to get my attention. I'm sure half the kids don't even know she _can_ talk.

I read for a little while longer before they both fell asleep. Now it's go time. I can have some time to start working on their rooms. I was going to do Raph and Casey's first so I can get them in their room and so they can leave me alone at night as soon as possible.

I headed to my lab to get the tools and then I went upstairs.

What's nice is that I don't need to do much for their rooms. I don't really need to paint it at all. I don't need to do anything you would normally do for a bedroom. All I really need to do is make the room out of the cement walls. I knew how to do that, since I did it for my bedroom and nothing bad has happened. I was pretty good at it and it doesn't take much time if you know what you're doing. I should be able to make all of their rooms within two months. Then I'll do all the extra stuff. I'll paint the room due to what color the two in the room—or one for April—want the walls to be painted. I'll put in carpet and beds and I'll put stuff they want in there. It won't take all that long. For me, at least.

I worked for about four hours until I heard April call my name. I rushed downstairs to see what was wrong. She reached her arms up to me and I scooped her up. "I'm sorry I left, April," I murmured after she told me what was wrong. "I know I shouldn't do that when you don't know where I am. I won't do it again."

Okay, April being clingy isn't annoying, like it would be if Raph or Casey was. She's actually quite sweet. I love how sweet she is. I probably won't ever get annoyed with it, no matter how old she is. I'm actually quite glad she's close to me. Most humans wouldn't spare me a second glance, no matter how young or old they are.

Timothy and Casey can tolerate the fact that I'm a mutant, because their closest companion—and soon to be roommate—is a mutant. April's thrilled to be close to me and I love that. I'd be okay if Timothy or one of the mutants were close to me, but I probably wouldn't enjoy it as much as I enjoy how much April is close to me.

I carried her upstairs, rocking her slightly. I yanked a pillow and blanket off my bed and walked back over to where I had started making the room. I folded the blanket up and tucked her into it, laying her head on the pillow. "I'll be right next to you, April, okay?" I whispered.

"Can you read me another story?" she asked me and I looked at her with wide eyes and a smile.

"Of course, April," I said to her. She smiled up at me and I went to grab the book downstairs. I sat down next to her when I got back up.

I read to her until she fell asleep again. I placed a soft kiss on the top of her head before setting the book down and getting back to work with a smile.


	6. Decorating

**Pairings: **_none_

**A/N: **_I'm actually surprised with myself. School starts tomorrow and this is my fourth update in one day! I'm on a roll today! I'd just like to thank all of those of you who have taken the time to read and review this story and Imagining the Impossible! Your reviews are what have inspired me to keep writing today. This might not even be my last… This chapter takes places right after Donnie is finished with building all the rooms. Now, he needs to decorate them, hence the reason the chapter name is Decorating._

* * *

**Chapter 6:**_ Decorating_

**POV: **_Donnie_

"Okay, guys. I have a little surprise for you guys…" I trailed off as I walked down the stairs. All of the kids looked up from what they were doing. Mikey, Raph, and Casey had been playing—rather violently—with their toys. Timothy, Leo, and Splinter had looked at something they found in the sewers. It looked like a cockroach… And April had simply been upstairs with me, and she knew what I was going to show everyone, but she didn't know exactly what my surprise looked like, as she had been in my room. She was now snuggled in my arms, wrapped in a blanket, since she was cold. It was getting rather cold in the sewers in October.

"What is it?" Casey demanded.

"I won't show you if you're going to talk to me like that," I said simply, smirking at him.

He sighed, angry with me, no doubt. "What do you have to show us, Donnie?" he mumbled under his breath.

"That's better. Now, come on. I want to show you," I said as I headed back upstairs and they all got up to follow behind me.

A lot had changed in the two months it took me to make the rooms. First off, April would be celebrating her birthday in less than three months. I was excited about that. Casey's is also in less than three months, which was big for him, since he was tired of being less than younger than the age of one.

Casey had started talking more. And I mean _a lot _more. I was having to constantly tell him to stop talking. It was really getting on my nerves. He also started being able to walk more, and a little faster, and that worried me because that meant he could run faster to try and beat Mikey and Raph in their daily races.

Of course, since Raph was the oldest mutant, he was the fastest with Mikey following shortly behind. Casey was still the slowest. I just can't remember how many times Casey has tripped on his own feet in the past _week _alone while he was trying to run.

April was talking more. But, to no one except for me. Honestly, I thought this was sweet, although her brothers got annoyed with her when she didn't respond when they talked to her. It really made my heart swell that I was the one she wanted to talk to most. Normally, people don't want to talk to me for whatever reason. Sure, the boys talk to me, but not as much. Sure, April doesn't talk _much,_ but she still talks to me more than they do.

I walked into Raph and Casey's new room, stopping in the doorway. Speaking of which, I need to get doors before they can move in. "Raph, Casey, this room is for you two," I announced, stepping out of the way as they came running in.

"Cool," they both said excitedly. "Thank you, Donnie!"

I was sort of shocked when they both hugged me, but I recovered quickly. "Don't worry, you two. I'll be getting the room fixed up so you can actually sleep in it, like beds and a door. I will get that done as soon as possible," I explained. They nodded as I walked out the door with the other four kids following me.

They were all excited as Raph and Casey when I showed them their rooms. They were all clearly excited about the fact of having bedrooms. I was glad for that. Once I get mattresses for each of them, no more sleeping on the annoying air mattress anymore. I felt relief just by thinking about it.

April's reaction to her new room was cute. She was excited and thrilled that I had given her own room.

"April, I know I didn't do this for your brothers, but since I know you'd prefer privacy, I'm going to let you share my bathroom. I hardly go in there, so it'll be like your own. All of your brothers have to use one of the other bathrooms set up around the lair," I told her, sitting down on my bed after I showed her to her new room. She nodded.

"Thank you, Daddy," she whispered. I smiled at her.

"Are you excited about your birthday?" I wondered.

She nodded. "Good. You should be. You're turning one. Isn't that exciting?" I asked her. She smiled up at me before nodding again.

After she fell asleep in my bed, I carried her down to the air mattress. I knew this was risky, but I had to. I found Leo—Leonardo's new nickname—sitting on the floor, playing with his toy.

"Hey, Leo, I need you to do me a favor," I said to him, crouching down. He looked up at me.

"What do you need, Donnie?" he asked me.

"I need you to watch April for me. I'm afraid she'll wake up and she normally freaks out if I'm not around when she does wake up. So, if she wakes up, calm her down," I told him. He looked at me.

"Where are you going?" he wondered briefly.

"I'm going to go get stuff for your bedrooms. I want to finish them as soon as possible so you can all have nice stuff in your rooms and so you can sleep in there soon," I explained to him.

"Oh, I get it. How long will you be gone?" he questioned.

"I won't be gone for long. Two hours at the most. Just make sure she doesn't freak out too much if she wakes up," I sighed, standing up.

"I can do that," Leo said responsibly.

"Good," I said and headed to my room. I needed to grab a few things.

I grabbed my long jacket that covered most of my body. I pulled on a hat that covered my face for the most part, and I grabbed the little bag that was full of money I had saved. I was going to buy the mattresses, and the doors. I wasn't sure how I'd get them all back in the lair, but I'd figure it out. I also wasn't sure on how much this was all going to cost me, but I had at least $2500 in here. I don't think it would be that much, but if it was more, I'd save up. I might get a job where nobody has to see me. I don't know.

I came back nearly four hours later with my haul. I had gotten everything I needed at the moment and more, and I still had over $200 left over. I was happy about that, despite that I had said to Leo that I wouldn't be gone for more than two hours. What a lie that was now. I sure hope April isn't awake. But, at least I got everything.

I had left the doors and six of the seven mattresses—along with whatever else I had grabbed—at the sewer grate I managed to stuff them through after I removed it and slid down. Thankfully, no one had noticed a thing. Or so I think. I sure hope so.

I carried the first mattress into the lair, where I found that Leo was sitting on the edge of the mattress, watching April sleep intently. "Leo, you can stop looking creepy now," I told him and he gasped, his head shooting up. "I'm home."

"I'm not being creepy," he defended.

"Yeah, you are. You could've done something else while she's asleep. You didn't have to watch her the entire time I was gone. I just said to stick close by," I chuckled, dragging the mattress up the stairs.

"You said to watch her, and I was intent on watching her, just like you said," he stated, standing up.

"Okay, but thanks for watching her," I sighed.

"Why were you gone for so long?" he asked me.

"Oh, I just happened to get everything you guys need," I told him smugly. "Mattresses, doors, paint for your rooms, bedframes, you name it."

"Aw, cool!" Leo gasped as he ran to help me get the mattress upstairs, since apparently I was having troubles. We took it into Raph and Casey's room, since this was the room I wanted to get done with the least as soon as possible.

We laid it on the floor. "Do you want to help me get everything else?" I asked him hopefully. He nodded. "Hey, do you know where your brothers are? I haven't seen them."

"Oh, Raph, Casey, and Mikey are up in Mikey's room, since they're trying to figure out if he has more room in his or not and they're trying to decide who should get the room that Mikey has. They've argued about it the entire time you've been gone. I could hear them all the way downstairs. That's what kept me busy. Splinter and Timothy are playing with their toys in mine and Splinter's room, since it's slightly quieter in there," Leo explained, shrugging as we walked down the stairs.

I'm sure Leo and Splinter were the only ones who could walk down the stairs—or up for that matter—without needing to use the railing. Leo was pretty stable on his feet, and so was Splinter.

"Well, I can settle their argument now," I said to him. "Raph? Casey? Mikey?"

They all came out of Mikey and Timothy's room. "Yes, Donnie?" they all asked me at once. Apparently, I sounded mad because they only did this when I sounded mad.

"Mikey gets the room you are all arguing about for now. There are no guarantees that you will all stay in the same room, but for now, Mikey and Timothy get that room," I told them. Raph and Casey groaned while Mikey cheered, jumping up and down. "Now, go back to doing something else. You might wake April up." Now, I definitely sounded mad when I mentioned April. I didn't want them to wake her up.

I called Splinter out and he came and stood in front of me where I stood at the top of the stairs. "Yes, Donatello?" he asked me. I don't know why he's the only one who won't call me by my nickname, but whatever.

"Can you watch April for me? Leo and I have to go do something real quick. She's sleeping so she shouldn't be too much of a problem to you. Leo and I will be in and out of the lair for a bit, and I don't want her to wake up. She tends to freak out when I'm not around when she wakes up," I told him, and he nodded.

"Of course, Donatello. I will watch April for you," he said firmly and I smiled at him before petting his head, which he absolutely adored. I headed downstairs, and Splinter followed Leo and me. He went to go sit by the bed.

"And don't do what Leo was doing earlier when I got back. He was just sitting there, watching her sleep. It was kind of creepy until I remembered that he was supposed to be watching her. Just…keep an eye on her, okay?" I clarified and Leo shot me a warning glare. I rolled my eyes at his defensive behavior.

Yes, I know he's protective of her, even if she's older than him, but he didn't need to be _that_ protective. I'm so worried about her every second of the day, and I don't even watch her that closely. Maybe that says something about how closely I watch her. But, normally when I think about something, I tend to be obsessive over it, and I think about April a lot. So, maybe Leo was just watching her _too_ closely. Who knows? Everyone has their own opinion.

Splinter nodded to me. Okay, glad he knows what he's doing. I normally tend to have Leo or Splinter hold down the fort while I'm out. They better know what they're doing by now. They are the most responsible out of the seven. April wasn't really old enough—as a human—to be responsible. And the other four, there's no way I'd ever let them watch after everyone. They didn't seem all that responsible in general, although Timothy is pretty nice.

Leo and I headed out to get the rest of the things. On our first trip back, I carried another mattress while Leo grabbed paint cans. I had grabbed one of each color I could pick—grey, white, black, brown, pink, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, _purple_. He carried two of them, since he couldn't handle much more.

We were in and out of the lair, leaving things in rooms. When we were done, I came back downstairs to watch over April for a while. She had woken up while I was back for a bit, and I had instantly tried to calm her down, although I did drop a mattress. Leo had jumped on the mattress and rode the rest of the way down, smiling and laughing as he did so. I had rolled my eyes and calmed April down, explaining to her what I was doing and why Splinter would be watching. She had just made me promise that I'd be done soon.

I pulled April onto my lap and she smiled, sighing happily. I smiled in response. "April, I got your mattress for you, so you can sleep in your room tonight," I murmured, brushing my fingers over her head. She mumbled something unintelligible before her eyes fluttered closed. Okay, then. She's sleeping in her room anyway.

At nine, I got everyone into bed. They were all excited that they'd be sleeping in their beds tonight. Of course, I hadn't finished putting the doors up or putting the bedframes together, but I could do that at any time. I only put April's door up, so she could have a little privacy. I didn't shut it all the way, though, so she could still get out. Then I went to bed. I'd decorate their rooms in the morning. But, for now, I was too tired to worry about it. Just a few hours of sleep…


	7. Decorating Pt 2

**Pairings: **_none_

**A/N: **_Okay, so I will start publishing at night and if I don't update at night, I'll at least type out the story at night and then publish it in the morning. I don't really have a set time to upload anything because I have a busy schedule, so…Anyway, this is the second part to the last chapter because I was really tired when I wrote that and it got a little short. So, this chapter will be longer and it will just continue from where I left it off last time. But, it will be in Leo's point of view because I can't remember the last time I've written from his point of view and he'll be following Donnie around all chapter, so you know what's going on._

* * *

**Chapter 7:**_ Decorating Pt. 2_

**POV: **_Leo's_

I got up bright and early this morning. I'm just not sure why. Normally, every morning, I don't wake up until later. I could tell that it was still very early because I couldn't hear much from the surface. Normally, when I wake up, it's because some noise on the surface was too loud and I just couldn't sleep through it. So, I wasn't sure what caused me to wake up.

But, knowing Donnie, he would want me to do something as to not bother anyone. But, he did say that if I wanted to, I could go bother him for something to do. But…I wouldn't call my visit to him "bothering" him. I was just simply going to wake him up.

I wandered into his room, the only door in the hallway that was painted a different color. April's door was up, as Donnie had put it up last night before we went to bed. But, Donnie's door was clearly his as his was painted purple. I had to admit, the color purple was cool. But, I had spent time looking at each color of paint Donnie had brought back, and blue looked cool.

I winced as I knocked softly, hoping he hadn't heard it. When no one responded, I pushed the door open slowly, freezing as it made a soft little noise. I mean, normally Donnie would be on edge if he heard even the slightest noise. I wonder how he hadn't heard me. Then I looked inside and I knew instantly why he hadn't heard anything.

Donnie was _out._ I mean it. He probably wouldn't be waking up for the world. His right arm draped off the side of the bed that wasn't against the wall, and his other arm was wrapped around April, who was curled up tight against his plastron. I had to admit, it was cute seeing Donnie sleep. From the time I had known him, he hadn't really _slept, _so much as _rested. _I had never seen Donnie so deep into sleep. It was nice knowing that Donnie was giving himself a break and actually sleeping. Good. I feel as though he pushes himself too much that he never gives himself a break from constantly watching us.

I slowly climbed onto the bed at the end and sat by his feet. I would stay in here until he woke up. Briefly, my eyes flashed to the alarm clock by his bed. Wow, three in the morning. That's a new one. Not even Donnie wakes up at three. And it seems like he never sleeps.

An hour later, Donnie began to stir, careful as to not move April in any way. He must have fallen asleep knowing she was there or he had woken up throughout the night and noticed her before falling back asleep. Donnie slowly sat up, not moving April. He saw me sitting by his feet before looking at his clock.

"Leo, what are you doing up at four in the morning?" he groaned, rubbing his eyes.

"I'd ask you the same thing. You normally don't wake up until at least six," I murmured.

"I can get up earlier if I want to. But, did you have a nightmare?" Donnie wondered, looking at me with his piercing red eyes. They were filled with worry.

"No. I just woke up early and you said not to bother anyone if we wake up early, so I came in here. I knew I wouldn't bother anyone if I came in here, because you don't normally get bothered when we come in your room," I explained.

He sighed. "You should've gone back to bed. It's way too early for you to be up," he muttered.

"I couldn't sleep after that. I laid in bed for about ten minutes, the normal time it takes me to fall asleep, and I just couldn't," I sighed.

He slowly stood, and leaped off the bed, landing on the floor silently. And April didn't even notice. "So, what do you want to do? You know you have at least three hours before anyone else wakes up," Donnie said cheerfully, as if it wasn't four in the morning and he was just waking up. I was impressed by how little sleep he could get and still function perfectly fine. It boggles the mind.

"Uh, I can't think of anything we can do without waking _someone _up," I mumbled.

"I could show you my lab," he offered.

"Okay," I said. I saw Donnie's eyes flash back to where April was sleeping. He sighed before acting like nothing had ever happened.

I've heard Raph, Casey, and Mikey say that they think that Donnie has a crush on April, although that would be weird for three reasons. One, Donnie's a turtle and April's a human. Two, April is so much younger than Donnie. By at least fourteen years, if not more. Three, April is his daughter. You can't date your child. That'd be wrong. But, even I was starting to think about it. I've noticed that Donnie always seems to be watching out for April more than us. Not that he doesn't watch over us, because he does it _a lot._ No, he just watches her more than he watches us.

I honestly think it's because April's the only girl in the family and he feels he needs to watch her 24/7 to make sure she's not feeling left out. And I'm sure she feels that way sometimes. I mean, yesterday, Donnie told me to watch April for a while, and I watched her the same way Donnie sort of does it. And he got weirded out by it, like it was wrong for me to do that. I'm not quite sure why that is, though.

Donnie's lab was absolutely mind-blowing. There were finished projects, unfinished projects, and half-finished projects laying around, but I swear, it was super neat in here. His tools were neatly lined up on one of his several desks. The other desks were reserved for computers and notebooks, along with what seemed to be hundreds of books. There were pencils, pens, blueprints, books, notebooks, paper with sketches on them, and whatever else I could name in there. I wasn't sure how he keeps track of anything in here, but I had to say, when it came to his work space, although the desks could be loaded with stuff, it was all neat.

"Cool," I gasped as I walked in. I liked how there was close to nothing on the floor in the middle of the room.

"Okay, so this is where I used to spend all my free time before I found you guys. I haven't been in here for a while, since I guess I didn't want to be seen coming in here and having you guys follow me in. But, Casey, Raph, and Mikey aren't up, so I think I was safe with bringing you in here. This big open space in the middle of the room is where I normally work on projects. I drag absolutely everything I need onto the floor and it looks like a nuclear fall out zone. I can't even walk around without tripping on something and I never trip. So…it says a lot. But, normally, when I'm working, I don't have to worry about anyone _else _tripping on something, so I can do whatever I want. I'll have to get used to keeping my work area _somewhat_ clean while I work with you guys around, since I need to set up security alarms around the lair. For safety reasons, because I don't want any of you guys to get hurt by someone sneaking in here," Donnie explained. I nodded.

"So, this is my main computer desk, where I do most of my research and planning out," he continued, gesturing to the desk—one of the desks—that had a lot of computers and papers on it. "I have other desks, but I don't use them as much. And the desk that doesn't have any computers on it is my tool table. And you see that door?" He pointed at the door leading somewhere in the lair. I nodded eagerly. "That is my little library. Well, it's not so little anymore. It's jam-packed with every single book I've ever read, every note I've ever taken from each text-book, and every notebook I've written in. It's pretty impressive."

"Can I see it?" I asked eagerly. He smiled down at me.

"Of course," Donnie told me and brought me into the room. My jaw dropped when I saw all the books and notebooks and paper stuffed onto shelves in the room. There were more books here than in an actual library. I'm almost certain of it. I've never been in an actual library, but still…Donnie sure does like to read.

He led me to a shelf full of books. "This is where I keep all the books I read to you guys. Before I read to you, I come in here and pick out a book to read. You know, if you want to, you can come in here and read. Almost nobody knows this door is here. It-it blends in so no one can really find it all that easily unless it's pointed out. So, it would be quiet in there. And you can search everywhere in here. If you need a book, I'm pretty sure I have it. So don't ever tell me you don't have anything to do. Come in here and read," Donnie explained, chuckling a bit. I nodded. This was awesome. I would definitely be coming in here to read or just relax without the noise of the other six—four because Splinter and April really don't make all that much noise—playing around. I'm sure it stays quiet in here and I was looking forward to hiding out in here and reading.

We went back upstairs after just wandering around the lair, looking at stuff that I hadn't seen before. Donnie even showed me some demonstrations of some of his creations. They were pretty cool, like the robot he made. It was a head taller than me, which says a lot about how tall I am because that thing is short.

Raph and Mikey were up and they were arguing. Again. About the room. Didn't Donnie set them straight yesterday? Apparently not.

"Guys, keep it down. You're going to wake someone up," I hissed at them as Donnie disappeared into his room.

"Who are we going to wake up? Casey? Yeah, he won't mind because he wants the room, too. Whether Donnie likes it or not, we're getting this room one way or another," Raph growled. Mikey glared at Raph.

"Donnie," I whined, hoping not to start a fight with my brother or brothers. I don't know if Mikey's mad at me or not.

Donnie came walking out casually with a box of tools in one hand. He was holding something behind him as he walked and as he passed me, moving to the two other turtles, I saw it was a tool of some sort. I think everyone freaked out except for him when the thing turned on.

"No one's switching rooms for a while," Donnie said calmly after we all stopped worrying. That thing looked scary and Mikey and Raph didn't even know what it was. I think knowing what it was is scarier. "Not until I decide if you get along with the person you're rooming with. Just one rule. No one gets the room next to mine unless I decide I can't take it anymore and I split one of the groups up."

"But then where would April go?" I asked, knowing that was April's room. Who would she room with because if there were two people with their own rooms, she'd have to pair up with someone.

"She'd go with me," Donnie answered as he grabbed the door that was leaning against the wall next to Raph and Casey's room. "She spends almost every night in my room anyway. I don't mind, though. I would make it work if I had to. And I think she'd be more comfortable with me in the first place."

He pulled out the tool he had used to scare all of us and we freaked out again. Donnie chuckled. "I have a ton of interesting stuff that can and will be used against you if you get on my bad side, which none of you have luckily done. So, you're safe," Donnie smiled then turned to the door with a smirk. "For now."

I wasn't sure I heard him right. Did he really just say that? Did he expect that we were going to get on his bad side? I know I really don't want to. He had spent ten minutes showing me all the tools in his lab, and most of them looked like they could be used to stop an attacker or punish someone. And then he spent another twenty minutes showing me all the weapons he owns. It scared me.

Donnie put in the door and I'm surprised no one woke up at that. He tested it and apparently deemed it working. "You're good to go for now, Raph," Donnie said happily. Raph smiled, not wanting to say anything to get on Donnie's bad side.

He quickly did all the doors just fine and then did all of our bedframes, since we were up and he could move the mattress wherever he wanted to. He left the beds for people who were still sleeping alone for the moment.

Donnie sighed and slumped down to the ground against the wall after Mikey and Raph had disappeared into their rooms, most likely to jump on the bed, like I had heard them talk about. But I did notice Donnie's smile.

"What did you do?" I asked him warily as I sat down, folding my legs beneath me.

Donnie chuckled and shook his head. "I haven't done it yet since they were watching me, but I'm going to install microphones hooked up to speakers in my room, so that way I can hear who's still up without ever leaving the comfort of my room. I can also scare people that way because they will be able to hear me talk through it, but they won't be able to see me. This also helps me because if someone has a bad dream or something and they start to cry, I can hear that and I can go help. I just didn't want them to know that I was doing that because then it would ruin the surprise. Because if they're up late at night when they shouldn't be, I'm going to yell into the speaker so they'll freak out and go to bed without even realizing that it was me who talked to them. I won't yell at you or Splinter, or Mikey or Timothy. But, Raph and Casey worry me," Donnie told me. I smiled.

"You're so evil sometimes, aren't you?" I laughed.

"Eh, I was raised by an evil person. Habits rub off on people," Donnie muttered, casting his gaze down.

"What do you mean?" I wondered.

"The guy who sort of adopted me, he wasn't a very good guy. He wasn't all that nice. I mean, the first few weeks that he brought me in, since I was two days old when he found me, they were nice. He gave me a bed to sleep on, food to eat, water to drink. Then…I don't know what happened. As soon as I could walk, he started training me to be the best. That meant that there were no more of life's comforts. I had to earn those by training hard. I would go weeks without sleep because I didn't want to sleep on the ground. I learned early on that if I slept on the floor, I'd most likely wake up with a big bruise in my arm or leg. I went days without eating and drinking water. Okay, I drank water every few hours because he knew that if I didn't get enough water that I would pass out. That's a long story that I don't feel like talking about. But, I starved for a while. He wouldn't read me bedtime stories. I didn't get a bed to sleep on every night. I didn't get fed when I was hungry. I was _beaten _when I didn't get something done right," Donnie sighed, folding his hands. "I ran a few months ago and I was just getting into New York again after living in Japan for four years when I found you guys. I'm not even sure how I had time to read all those books. I don't think I ever got enough time to do anything. I was watched under 24/7 security so I didn't get loose. And I only ran because he was trying to force me to marry his daughter, Karai. I-I just couldn't. You guys are lucky. I don't do any of those things to you."

"Is that why you watch over April? Because you know that no one's ever going to force you to marry her and so you can trust her and not worry about anything happening?" I whispered.

"You know, Leo, for such a little guy, you're pretty smart," Donnie laughed, standing up. "April's up. I can hear her moving."

Donnie rushed into his room before April could realize that he wasn't there. I smiled.

After we all had a big breakfast, Donnie finished up with the bedframes before pulling out the fun stuff, meaning pillows and blankets. Sure, we had stuff last night, but it wasn't much. Donnie had probably been wanting to surprise us with the extra blankets and pillows.

He dumped everything in the middle of the floor. "Guys, you should choose which color you want your bed sheets and pillows to be. It'll be more fun if you have colors you like," Donnie said. "Leo first."

I looked through the pile, looking for blue pillows and sheets and blankets. "I want blue," I said. Donnie nodded, pulling a pencil out of somewhere. He wrote something down on a sheet of paper that he had on his clipboard. Hmm.

"Raph, you're next," Donnie murmured.

"Red," he said immediately.

"I thought you would say that," Donnie chuckled, writing it down. "Mikey."

"I want orange," he finally answered after looking through the pile. Donnie smiled.

This went on for a while. Casey had picked dark red, instead of the bright red that Raph had picked. Splinter chose reddish-brown, which was a cool color. Almost like his eyes, but darker. Timothy had chosen green. And, last but not least, April had chosen yellow. I thought it was cute and I'm sure Donnie thought so, too, since Donnie was a genius. You had to admit, yellow and purple complement each other.

Donnie took the time to make all of our beds for us, choosing the pillow and blankets of our choice. He started at Raph and Casey's end of the hallway and made his way down to his. It didn't take as long as I thought it would, which was nice, because I just wanted to jump in my nicely made bed and sleep for a while, since I woke up too early.

But, Donnie took a lot of time on April's room, and I was curious. So, instead of going back to sleep, I peeked into April's room.

Okay, so Donnie was done with her room now, and he and April were playing with stuffed toys on her bed. I stood in the doorway, smiling. This was just too cute. I like seeing Donnie so soft towards at least one of us. Sure, he's a soft person in general, but he's very gentle and calm towards April, no matter what she did. It was nice seeing him like this, just like it was nice seeing Donnie sleep this morning.

Donnie's eyes flashed up to where I was standing. "Do you want to come join us, Leo?" Donnie wondered, smiling. April looked up at me and smiled, too.

"Yeah," I said and wandered in towards the bed. I sat down on it and they handed me toys to play with. I smiled and chose one as we all spread out on the bed and played with the stuffed animals like it was the last time we'd be able to do this together. And I'm sure it might be. But, for now, who cares? I'm happy, Donnie's happy, everyone else is happy as far as I know. That's good enough for me.


	8. Terrifying Memories

**Pairings: **_none_

**A/N: **_I'm on a roll for chapters written in Leo's point of view. But, this one will make sense even if you don't know what happened exactly. And I hate having to write chapters when people get hurt from their point of view. So, since Leo is extremely loyal, he immediately knows that something's up. The kids get a look into Donnie's extremely dark past and why he's the way he is._

* * *

**Chapter 8: **_Terrifying Memories_

**POV: **_Leo's_

Donnie left to do stuff a while ago, and like always, Splinter and I were asked to hold down the fort and keep an eye on things. Meaning, one of us watches April and the other makes sure no one gets hurt or runs off. I'm normally the one who watches April, because she tends to be closer to me because I look the most like Donnie. It makes sense. Both me and Donnie are turtles.

"Where's Donnie?" April asked me.

"I don't know, April. But, he'll be home soon. He always is," I assured her. April has talked to us more recently because we spend a ton of time with her, due to Donnie's requests.

"Not always," Raph muttered and I threw one of my pillows at his face. He caught it quickly and growled at me. Raph has been taking lessons to become a ninja with me at night for a while. He was getting better at his reflexes.

"Don't say something that isn't true," I snapped at him, brushing April's short hair back with my hand. She smiled up at me.

We sat in the living room for another hour until Donnie walked in. He looked…off for whatever reason. He walked in silently, not even looking around for any of us, almost like he didn't care if we were here or not.

"Donnie?" Mikey called, worried. Donnie's first instinct was to always look for us and count every single one of us several times when he got back. This was so different. Donnie just ignored all of us and walked to his lab. I think I was the first one to notice the blood dripping from his fingertips.

I picked April up and walked to Donnie's lab, following behind. I raised my finger to my lips, telling everyone to shut up and not make a sound.

Donnie was not crying at all, like I thought he would be. I mean, we all cry when we get hurt and then Donnie's always there when we get hurt. The question was who was going to be there when _Donnie_ was hurt.

In the eerie silence that followed Donnie's disappearance, a loud crash coming from Donnie's lab made us all flinch. "DAMN IT!" we all heard Donnie scream out. I set April down and ran for the doors to Donnie's lab and threw them open. I bit my lip at what I saw.

Donnie was leaning against one of his desks. One of his most prized computers laid on the floor, shattered into tons of little bits. All the stuff had been thrown off of his desk.

"Donnie?" I asked, worried, as my brothers came up behind me, the humans coming as fast as they could.

"Get out of here," Donnie growled, and I noticed how Donnie's purple mask was clenched in his hands, only it wasn't purple anymore. It was soaked with his red blood. I gulped.

"Donnie?" Mikey tried.

"I said get out here!" Donnie snarled, whipping around. Blood dripped down his cheeks from a slit on his cheek, and it was a gaping wound. Tears streamed down his cheeks.

Then, what scared me beyond belief, when I placed a foot inside Donnie's lab, Donnie collapsed onto the ground, and curled up in a tight ball. He was shaking as he rocked himself back and forth. "I'm sorry. J-Just please don't hurt me," Donnie whimpered and my eyes widened with fear.

We all looked at each other before going into his lab and gathering things that he had used for us when we got injured. We had paid attention.

I placed a gentle hand on Donnie's cheek and he flinched away from me. "What happened?" I asked him.

Raph and Splinter sat down on the floor, pulling out materials from a big box of medical supplies. I noticed how they grabbed gauze, Band-Aids, a needle, and some thread.

"Do you guys even know how to stitch wounds?" Casey questioned, standing next to me.

"No, but I've seen Donnie do it before. It doesn't look hard," Raph spoke up.

"How'd you _see_ Donnie do it? You were half unconscious and he was stitching up your forehead," I sighed as April tried to crawl into Donnie's lap. Donnie wouldn't let her, though, which offended her. So, she sat by my feet.

"Please, guys. I don't need help," Donnie muttered as he stood up. We all looked up at him.

"Donnie, you're really bleeding. You need help," Mikey murmured.

"If I needed help, I would've done it myself," Donnie hissed and Mikey flinched as though Donnie had just slapped him. The look of hurt on Mikey's face suggested that he might as well have.

"Donnie, you're going to bleed to death," Timothy spoke for the first time in a while.

"I don't really care," Donnie breathed.

"If you die, who's going to care of us?" I demanded, glaring at him. This stopped him from leaving the lab. He froze in the doorway. "Especially April?"

I know that must've hurt. I was questioning him on how well he could take care of us, and using his weak spot for April against him to save his life. And everyone in the room—except for Donnie—knew that doing that had been my intention. I was doing it intentionally, and I'm sure Donnie must know that to an extent.

"Don't you dare question me on how I'm taking care of you," I heard him growl, clenching his hands into fists, not looking at us.

"What happened?" I asked him, trying to get rid of how mad I was at him out of my voice. I was mad at him for yelling at us and for trying to downplay how bad his injuries actually were.

"I got jumped by a group of guys who work for the guy who raised me. They know I'm in New York somewhere. Or at least they did. I didn't see it coming when they slashed my face. They probably didn't see their deaths coming, either," Donnie muttered, crushing the door frame down. I heard it splinter under his hold. His knees were shaking. "Those were the first three people I've ever killed before."

My eyes widened, along with everyone else's. I could understand why Donnie was moody now. He just killed people. I would've been the same way. Now I felt awful for getting mad at him. Donnie slowly turned around and looked at everyone. I hate to admit it, but Mikey and Timothy were trying hard not to look at Donnie. They were actually trying to keep their distance.

Donnie walked to where Splinter and Raph had the medical supplies. "I'm really sorry for yelling at you guys. I-I just overreacted. It's just that the guy who raised me has encouraged me to kill people for years. I promised myself that I would never commit murder, and I go around my promise to myself and I killed three people tonight," Donnie breathed as he crouched down and took the stuff from Splinter and Raph. Splinter sort of flinched when Donnie accidentally touched Splinter.

Donnie sighed and sat up on his desk, working on his wound in the reflection of his computer. While I was watching Donnie, I saw how Splinter, Mikey, and Timothy got up and left out of the corner of my eye. I sighed. April gripped my hand tightly.

"Thanks for forgiving me," Donnie said, sort of to himself, because I think that I'm the only one who has forgiven him.

"Who said we forgive you? You killed someone and then you yelled at us," Raph and Casey snapped and left. Donnie let out a startled breath.

April and I were the only ones who didn't leave Donnie. I was so worried about him. I was afraid that if no one was watching him that he'd leave his wound like it was and bleed to death. I'm sure April had the same fear.

Donnie turned around to look around the lab when he was done. His eyes caught mine and he sighed. "Thanks for not leaving, guys," he muttered and jumped down from his desk. "I knew I could count on you guys for not leaving."

He picked both of us up and carried us out of the lab and I absently ran my fingers over his stitches, and he winced slightly. He looked around the lair, and I saw tears fill his eyes when he saw that no one was around except for us.

"They couldn't have gotten far. I'll be back," he said silently, setting us back and running down a sewer tunnel. I looked at April.

"I can't believe they left," I muttered and she nodded.

"Donnie's not a bad person," April agreed. "They shouldn't have left."

"I know. He obviously had a good reason. The bad guys were going to tell a very bad guy where Donnie was and he wanted to keep them quiet," I sighed.

Donnie came back into the lair, in tears. He was all alone. He sank to the floor and sobbed into his knees. We got up and walked over to him slowly, not wanting him to lash out at us.

The next few days, the other five of us didn't return. Donnie didn't say anything to us. It was like he was actually…afraid of us. But, when Donnie talked, he exposed everything. Everything he's ever been through. Ever since the beatings from the guy who raised him started to the time he ran. It was horrible and sickening, knowing that someone could be as cruel and hateful towards Donnie. And knowing about his past made me hate my brothers even more for leaving.

On the seventh day, Donnie was in an extremely bad mood. He wouldn't even get up out of bed. He was sobbing all day, and he kept talking to himself. When he did eventually get up, he tried to trash just about everything in his lab, but I managed to hold him back with April's help. Then, after that, he had gone and laid in bed again, crying.

At midnight, I heard something break in the lair and I shot up out of bed. I ran down the stairs with a flashlight that Donnie had given me a while ago. I flipped it on and shined it around the lair. I saw my brothers trying to pick up broken glass and I hissed, getting their attention.

"How dare you guys try to come back after leaving Donnie?" I growled, glaring at them. "Do you know what you've done to him?"

"Try us," Raph challenged.

I tossed the bloody mask onto the floor in front of them. "That's his fifth mask since you've been gone. In his depression, he opens up his stiches when April and I aren't looking. He's been going crazy. He cried all of yesterday and it makes me sick, knowing you guys did that to him," I cried. I saw them all look at each other. "And if you don't believe me about the mask, I have all other four of them. I can show you guys. But know that it's going to take a lot for any of us to forgive you for what you did."

I ran back upstairs, not caring if they left again because I hurt their feelings. They hurt Donnie a ton worse. I ran into April's room and shut the door behind me. I shined the light on her bed. "April? Wake up," I whispered. She flinched at the bright light of the flashlight. As she turned on the light, I turned off the flashlight.

"What, Leo?" she asked me slightly.

"Our brothers are home," I told her. She sat up quickly.

"How can they even come home and face Donnie after what they did to him?" she muttered.

"I asked them the same thing," I sighed and sat on her bed.

I heard Donnie cry out and I ran out of April's room and into Donnie's room. My brothers stood at the door, shocked beyond belief as Donnie cowered in the corner, rocking himself back and forth.

"Don't be so shocked. He's been doing this recently," I muttered as I walked into the room, sitting by Donnie. I noticed the blood on Donnie's fingertips and I looked at his cheek. The stiches weren't popped, but blood seeped through them. I felt bad because I was the one who stitched him up last time. I was pretty good after watching him so many times, but apparently not. His mask was looped around his fingers, and I could tell he was trying to keep the blood from this one for whatever reason.

"Donnie, I-I'm so sorry," I was surprised to hear the words from Raph and Casey first, then all the others followed. April came in with her stuffed bear and for the first time, I realized that the bear was Donnie's. He must've given it to her.

"Take the mask," Donnie mumbled to April and handed it to her when she was close enough. She took it, confused. Then understanding lit her face up.

"What?" I asked her.

"Donnie had put this mask on his stuffed bear and he gave the bear to me. He wants to keep the blood off of it because it's technically my mask, but remember, we ran out of stuff for Donnie's mask," April explained softly. I nodded. That makes sense.

"You guys, you might want to get out of here," Donnie breathed and, knowing Donnie's moods, it was for the best. April and I stood in the group by the door. Then, Donnie got to his feet quickly and I winced even before all the stuff on his desk came down on the floor.

"I don't want to have to watch this anymore," April sighed and left the room and I nodded, watching after her. I didn't want to watch this any more than she did, but someone had to watch him. Well, someone who would stick by his side, no matter what.

"I hope you guys are happy. You guys are directly responsible for why he's not in a better mood. If you guys hadn't left him all alone, he would've forgotten all about his attack and those guys. But, no. You guys all left him," I muttered as they all winced when Donnie yelled into the room.

When Donnie eventually cooled off, he sunk to the floor again, sitting in the center of a huge mess. I'd probably end up cleaning the room. But, for now, my brothers better think of a good way of apologizing for everything they've done in the past eight days.

* * *

**A/N:** _This chapter was so painful to write. I know…hot-headed Donnie. That's Raph's job, but for now, the roles were reversed. Okay, I know not all of them got to know about Donnie's past and I apologize for that. But, I'm so tired. It's 1 in the morning and it took me around one and a half hours to write this. And if you want to know why Donnie was so terrified when they didn't leave, it's because that if Donnie had ever yelled at Shredder, he would've been slashed across the face and all over multiple times. He was trying to save his life. So, Donnie is still sensitive. And the five who left were pretty mean. If Donnie ever killed someone, I would've stuck around because Donnie is so nice otherwise and he's so gentle. He would never go on a killing-spree. It'll get happier in the next chapter. And if you were wondering why Donnie tried to deny getting stitches, it's because he's used to bleeding more than he should. He didn't care if he lost half the blood in his body. It's happened before and he didn't want people to worry about him. He's used to losing blood because of whenever Donnie bled and he was in Shredder's hold, he never gave Donnie stitches. Donnie had to do them himself when he wasn't being thrown to the ground in constant training._


	9. Thanks To You

**Pairings: **_none_

**A/N: **_Sorry for the sad chapter. It hurt me so much to write that. But Donnie has a rough past in this story and I thought it was necessary to explore his dark side, because you all know he has one in this story. Anyone raised by the Shredder would have a serious dark side. Donnie just tries to hide it better than most people. This next chapter is going to be happy. I promise. There might be a few sad parts, but most of it is just cute. This is a little story I thought of when thinking of my other story. The five who left are going to try to apologize fully to Donnie, the one who's raised them their whole lives._

* * *

**Chapter 9: **_Thanks to You_

**POV: **_Donnie's_

I sat down in my lab, fully happy with my work of the morning. After picking up pieces of my complete and absolute depression for nine days, I had come to a conclusion on a project I had started eight years ago. I finally finished it and it works. Of course, I worked on it after I cleaned everything up. I did fix everything I broken, and my unfinished project from when I was seven happened to be something I broke, and I finished it after all these years. I was pretty happy.

I had also gotten around to cleaning up my room before Leo could do it for me, like I know he wanted to. But, I was perfectly capable of cleaning on my own. I organized it even better than before. My room and lab were spotless. It was quite impressive how much I could get done in three hours. I rebuilt tons of stuff, I cleaned up my mess, and I finished a project. A perfect way to spend three hours on a Saturday morning.

My stiches were healing quite nicely. I had stitched the cut on my face up again and it was healing perfectly. I guess they'd be gone by now if I hadn't pulled them apart every few hours. But, I wasn't going to mess with them, anymore. I wasn't upset about anything anymore. Who cares if I killed some people? I needed to, to keep the Foot Clan quiet about my location. I'm sure more will come, but for now, I'll just stay happy. It's much more beneficial for me than being angry and depressed. I get more work done this way and my kids like me better this way.

I heard someone knock on my door and I smiled. Perfect time to play with my project. I grabbed the controller and pressed a button. My little robot animated itself to life and I moved it over to the door. I pressed a few more buttons and it opened the door for me. I smiled widely. It works great.

You see, when I was seven, I had always wanted a robot assistant. I would make it fill in for me while I was trying to heal from injuries or sicknesses. And if Shredder broke it—and probably me afterwards—I'd fix it. But, I never had the time to finish it. Part of it was that I was stumped back then on how to finish him. But, I was glad I had a robot assistant now. I could make him get my coffee and I could watch the kids from my office because there's a video camera in my robot's head.

"Come in," I called over to the door. I saw Raph peek his head. "Oh, hey, Raph."

He was sort of taken aback at how happy I seemed after my explosion last night. "D-Donnie, I'm so sorry for everything I've ever done to you to hurt you," Raph muttered. I sent my robot over to where Raph stood and I controlled my robot, making him tilt Raph's head up so I was looking into Raph's eyes. I smiled widely.

"First of all, how awesome is that robot?" I laughed. Raph smirked a bit, but dropped it. He was clearly on a mission to apologize to me. It's too bad he prepared himself for hours of begging because all it took was the words. I forgive him. "Second of all, I forgive you."

"Donnie, no you don't under-Wait, did you just say you forgive me?" Raph started and cut himself off.

"Yeah. I was never really that mad at you guys. I was just a little offended and upset, but never truly mad. Now, I'm sure Leo and April are mad at you, but you can deal with them when you feel like it. Once they see me act cool around you, then they'll probably forgive you quickly. It was me they were worried about. They tend to be on the same wavelength as me," I shrugged, explaining softly. "Hey, buddy, go get me my coffee."

My robot zoomed out of my lab without me touching the controller and I smiled again. "Isn't he awesome?" I chuckled. Raph watched out the door doubtfully and he was shocked when my robot came back to me with a steaming cup of coffee, although I already had one, but my coffee was cold. And my robot made it just the way I like it.

"Cool," Raph said. I nodded as I took a sip happily, loving the way the coffee tasted and felt in my mouth.

"Well, was that all?" I wondered, peeking at Raph over the edge of my coffee cup.

"No, but the rest of my brothers are going to be coming in soon to apologize. They sent me first just in case you weren't all that happy still, so I would wear down your anger so it would be safe for them to come in," Raph sighed.

"Oh. Why would they think that I'd hurt someone if they came in here?" I asked curiously, knowing the reason. I just wanted to be correct.

"B-because of your fit of anger last night," Raph muttered. Hmm. I was wrong. Eh, it happens. But even if I was extremely mad at them, I would never physically hurt them. Mentally, maybe, but that wouldn't always be intentional. But, I'm a genius. I know some pretty cruel mind tricks to play on people, but I would never use those on them.

"Oh. Well, I hope they know that, even if I was mad at you guys, I would never, ever intentionally hurt you," I told him. "Physically."

Raph nodded. "My robot will show you the way out if you're done," I smirked, getting over my slightly bitter mood.

"Uh, no, I'm not done," Raph sighed. "I-I just wanted to thank you for everything you've ever done for me, despite how much I've been mean to you. You…you feed me when I'm hungry, you give me things to drink when I'm thirsty, you give me a place to sleep when I'm tired, and you keep me safe."

"Not that I object, but why are you thanking me?" I questioned him.

"Because, being gone for eight days in the sewers, it makes me realize how much I take advantage of the things you give me. I really missed you and living out in the sewers really scared me. It's not fun," Raph explained. I smiled at him.

"At least living in the sewers with no one except for your brothers is better than living with a very abusive person," I shrugged, racing my robot around my lab, glad it was clean in here. Raph looked at me, probably wondering about what happened to make me sound so happy when talking about being abused. Actually, nothing happened. I'm still the same person I've always been. I'm just better at controlling my emotions. When I'm in a relatively happy, or even just good mood. I can't be in depression.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"The guy who raised me, Oroku Saki, he abused me ever since I could stand. He would do whatever he pleased to me, including but not limited to, whipping me when I so much breathed out of place, beating me when I messed a move up when training, and kicking me in the plastron whenever I slept on floor when I didn't have a bed to sleep in. You see, I would never dream of hurting you guys like that. I have not-physical ways, but I still probably would never hurt you that way, either. The mind can be a person's most powerful part of the body. I wouldn't mess with your minds. But, anyway, it's kind of odd because abusive people are easy to figure out. All you have to do is figure out if the person was abused as a child. I'm the exact opposite. I was abused terribly and I don't abuse people, despite how much I've been abused in my past," I told him. "So, even though you don't need to say it, I know you're thankful I don't treat you this way after hearing that. Is that all?"

Raph nodded shyly. I probably made him sad. I sighed and sent my robot to the door to open it. Raph smiled back at me. "That robot really is awesome," Raph laughed and I smiled, nodding.

The other four eventually came in to apologize, but they all came in at once. I told them all that I forgive them and they were really happy that I did. I was, too. I wouldn't be able to take it if they were afraid of me the rest of their lives. But I wouldn't blame them. Killing people is scary…


	10. Field Trip

**Pairings: **_none_

**A/N: **_Hi, guys! Thanks to all of you who have reviewed for all of my stories. I promise I'll try to update more. But, school will get in the way. Oh, and I'm starting a new story if you want to check it out. I haven't posted it yet, but I'll keep you updated on it. This is just a random idea I got while thinking of the first episode of the turtles. Donnie's going to attempt to take them all up to the surface!_

* * *

**Chapter 10: **_Field Trip_

**POV: **_Donnie's_

"Kids, wake up! We're going up topside!" I yelled into the dark lair, where the kids were trying to sleep, but now was the best time to go. And I would totally keep them safe. I'm responsible enough. I can watch seven children by myself. I've been doing it for a while now. Man, it's getting close to half a year now. Time sure does fly by quickly.

Mikey was the first one to wake up and come running down the stairs, although it's close to impossible to wake him up otherwise. "Where is topside?" Mikey asked me excitedly. I smirked.

"You know the place where all the normal humans are?" I questioned. "The place I go to get your things?" He nodded rapidly. "That's where we're going."

"Yay!" Mikey squealed. I rubbed his head as we waited for the rest of them to wake up. Maybe I wasn't loud enough. I ran upstairs, going to Raph and Casey's room first. I slammed the door open, which got Casey up. Well, that was easy. I went up to Raph's bed and crouched down so my mouth was right by his head.

"Hey, Raph! Time to get up!" I shouted and Raph woke up, groaning as he swung his fist towards my head. I did a flip backwards, avoiding it with ease.

"What the heck was that for?" Raph demanded, sitting up.

"It's time to get up. We're going somewhere new," I said smugly as I skipped out of the room cheerily. I did the same to everyone else. The only one who actually tried to yell back at me before I could get away was April. And it was the cutest thing in the world.

I got April and Timothy dressed while Casey attempted to dress himself. It was a disaster. Lucky for me, Leo is a good brother and he helped Casey so I had less work to do. I gave Splinter his kimono, since he loved to wear it around. He preferred to stay dressed, while the turtles like to just go around with no clothes on, me as well.

"Now, hmm. How am I going to get you guys out of the lair without any of you setting off any alarms?" I asked them and myself, looking at them. The humans were sitting down, all three of them not wanting to stand any more.

"How about you carry us out two at a time since you know how to get passed them?" Leo suggested, thinking of the idea before I could.

"You're a genius," I said, scooping up Timothy and April. April smiled at me and I kissed her forehead, which she always loved. None of the others appreciated it when I did that. So I only did it for April.

I walked out of the lair, stepping over the trip wires. I still haven't gotten a better security system set up. I could set up my robot to attack intruders, but I didn't have time now. We had three hours.

When I got past all of them, I sat them down on the ground. "You guys have to stay here. I will return with your brothers in just a bit. Just wait here, okay?" I checked.

"Yes, Donnie," they both said. I smiled at them before heading back, careful of every movement, but still quick.

I only really had to carry Casey and Mikey. Splinter, Leo, and Raph were training to be ninjas, so this was the perfect time to practice. They actually managed to get across just fine, which was good for me. I didn't have to go back and disarm the alarm for now.

We all walked through the tunnels, trying to find the nearest manhole to go up out of. Well, we passed several of them, but I was waiting for them to find one. It shouldn't take long for them to figure out that in the sewers, they're on the _ceiling,_ but it's an important life lesson for them to eventually find this out.

"There aren't any manholes down this tunnel," Mikey eventually whined. We'd been walking for an hour now. They still haven't found any yet.

"Actually, there have been precisely twenty-seven of them that we've passed. You guys just aren't looking in the right place," I said simply, smiling smugly.

"What?" they all demanded, stopping and looking back at me. I smiled innocently.

"I was waiting for you guys to figure out that the manholes are on the ceiling of the tunnels," I chuckled and they all looked up. Guess what? They stopped right beneath one. Oh, the odds are in my favor. I smiled at all of them again.

I helped all of them up before I came up myself, glad I was tall. This one didn't have a ladder, like most of them. I closed the manhole and stood up, looking down at them. "So, what do you guys want to do?" I wondered. They all shrugged. "Do you guys have a preference on what you want to do?"

"Can we get pizza?" Mikey asked quickly.

"No. I don't have a disguise on me," I sighed. "I was hoping you would come up on something to do that doesn't involve interacting with people up here."

We eventually all came to an agreement that we would just walk around, avoiding people. But one person spotted us before we could hide.

"Hello, sir," the woman said and I was almost certain right off the bat that she was blind.

"Hello," I responded politely, looking at the kids who were hiding behind me.

"May I ask what you are doing out this late at night? You should be asleep," she said while a part of me wondered how she knew I was walking around if she was blind. I mean, if she wasn't, she would've run away screaming. But, how did she know?

"I would ask you the same question," I murmured.

"I like to walk around at night. It relaxes me," she sighed happily.

"Well, I was just walking around with my kids. They're interested in the city," I told her, sounding like the proud father I was. I wanted to laugh at that idea.

"You have children?" she asked me, interested.

"Yeah. Seven of them," I cleared. She smiled at me.

"What are their names?" she wondered.

"Uh, my oldest son's name is Timothy. Then, my next oldest son's name is Splinter," I started, intent on answering this woman's questions. I don't get out to interact with people often aside from the ones I'm raising. I only really connect with the people who can't see me, because I can just be myself, no disguises. I looked back at Leo and he gave me an odd face.

"What are you doing?" he mouthed. "It's a human!"

"She's okay. She's blind. She can't see us," I mouthed back, looking back at the nice woman. I could see Leo nod behind me and I smiled. Speaking up, I continued. "My only daughter's name is April. Then, there's Casey, Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo."

"Such unique names," she murmured.

"What's your name?" I asked her.

"My name's May," she told me.

"Cool. My name's Donatello, but you can call me Donnie if you want to," I explained. "The person who raised me, who was not necessarily my father or mother, apparently really liked the renaissance artist, but I can't remember his full name. But I really like renaissance art, so I named three of them after some artists I knew."

"I love renaissance art," she said. I smiled.

"Me, too. Hey, do you want me to walk you home? There's a lot of gang activity in New York and it would be awful if something bad happened to you," I pointed out, trying to be polite.

"That would be very polite of you," she chuckled and I held out my hand, not thinking about it. I probably would never know how she knew exactly where my hand was, but she took it and she smiled when she felt it. "You have interesting skin."

"Yeah," I agreed. "Okay, guys. We're going to walk May home now, then we'll go home ourselves." All of them nodded in agreement, and I could tell April was excited to finally meet another female-mutant or human. I turned back to May. "Lead the way."

Then I realized that it was a stupid thing to say to a blind person. I didn't get a chance to say anything else to her before she started walking forward. Then I supposed that if she was alone, she must know where home is.

The walk to May's house wasn't all that long, and we passed the time by the kids talking around us. Leo was talking about a bunch of stuff he knew already, and Raph and Casey talked about their toys, as did Mikey and Timothy. Splinter talked about what he knew, and April stayed quiet. May noticed this.

"April?" she eventually asked when we were about a block from May's apartment.

"Yes?" April questioned almost immediately.

"Is there anything you feel like sharing?" May wondered.

"I don't talk much," April murmured.

"Yeah. She's really shy," I agreed. "Hey, April, you should tell her about what you know about your name."

"Oh, yeah. I learned from Donnie that my name is also the name of a month, and that it's one of the months in spring. It's also one of the months when all the flowers bloom," April chatted.

"What's your favorite kind of flower, April?" May asked, glad that April was talking. And I had to admit, I love it when April talks to people. She has such a pretty voice.

"My favorite flower is a sakura," April said proudly. May looked confused.

"It's another name for a Japanese cherry blossom. I lived in Japan for four years, and I have a few at my house. April really loves them," I explained.

"I bet they must be really beautiful," May sighed.

"They are. I should bring you a few sometime," I murmured.

I saw the blood rush to May's cheeks and I realized what I just said. But I wasn't going to take it back and offend her. Almost all of my kids' eyes grew wide when they looked at me. Well, who cares now?

We arrived at May's apartment and she pulled out her key. She unlocked the door and I held the door open for her. "Would you all like to come in and have a cup of tea before you head out?" May asked us politely.

"We actually really need to be getting back home. I woke them up so they could come out and not be judged by people who see them, but it's getting really late and I'm sure they're all tired," I sighed, really wishing I could take up her offer. But, I remember how to get here. I could always come back. Maybe by myself next time.

"Oh. Well, I wish you a good night," she said.

"Goodnight," we all chorused. She giggled a bit before she shut the door behind her.

"Someone's got a crush," Raph, Casey, and Mikey said dramatically.

"Since when do you three know the first thing about crushes and relationships?" I questioned, looking at them with a sarcastic look.

That shut them up. Because quite honestly, they didn't know about anything relating the topic of dating. But, I took them all home and tucked them in before heading off to bed myself, thinking about May…


	11. First Lessons

**Pairings:**_ none_

**A/N: **_I'm finally updating more because I have the time to think, although I really should be reading. Oh, well. Writing about the turtles is so fun. And Donnie uses some language in this chapter._

* * *

**Chapter 11: **_First Lessons_

**POV: **_Donnie's_

I quickly pushed the whiteboard into the dojo, intent on setting up before they all woke up and found out that they would be doing something new today. I set the markers down on the floor by the whiteboard and headed back out. I grabbed several books from my little library and dropped them off in the dojo before going upstairs and waking up the little ones.

"Come on, wake up. The sooner you get up, the sooner you eat," I called into the rooms, walking back and forth. I was getting tired of this. They almost never wake up anymore. Maybe I'm going too soft on them. Eh, it was better than being too hard on them. I smirked to myself, deciding that it was okay to be evil _sometimes._ "Oh, God, guys! I'm bleeding!"

That got them up as I fell to my knees dramatically. They all came running to my side. I smirked up at them, my eyes gleaming. It was probably really creepy. "Why'd you fake it?" Raph demanded.

"You guys gotta start waking up easier in the morning. It's getting really annoying to wake you all up, and I have something fun planned today," I sighed, closing my eyes. "I'd really appreciate a little help."

"Sorry, Donnie," Leo muttered.

"It's okay. You guys just have to start waking up when I call for you guys," I said, heading for the stairs. "Time for breakfast."

I slid down the banister, enjoying it like always. I leaped off at the end and headed for the kitchen. I could hear them follow behind me and I smiled to myself.

After breakfast, I led them to the dojo. "Okay, so I'm going to start teaching you stuff, like a teacher," I explained. "And since you're not going to an actual school, you have absolutely no excuse to get out of it unless if you are in bed with a very severe illness or a very serious injury and you can't move. Other than that, you're coming to this."

I sat them all down in the dojo and I pulled up my chair. "So, since you're not going to be able to do much reading yet, you need to know how to read before we can move on to anything else," I said simply and wrote my name on the board. "What does that say? Okay, I'm an absolute idiot." I pointed at the "d" in my name. "This is the letter "d." As in Donnie."

They all actually were able to pronounce the letter right, as they have been ever since they knew how to say my name. "Next is the "o." I have two of them in my full name."

We went like this for a while, and I took the time to be able to show them each of the letters in my name and then we did it with all of their names, as well. April's was harder for them, and so was Raph's. They just got so confused with the "p." I don't know why. They said it had something to do with the fact that it just looked like an upside down "d."

After they eventually got the fact that the "ph" in Raph's name sounds like you an "f" in there, we moved on. The alphabet wasn't all that hard, now that they knew just about every letter there was.

And I realized that the humans were learning at a much more advanced rate than normal humans. Maybe my intelligence is rubbing off on them, or maybe it's that we all learn faster than humans and they caught on fast.

I brought Leo up to the board. "You've been watching me write your name for the past hour, Leo. Do you think that you can write it out yourself? This could actually be used as training because you have to have a good memory to remember the moves," I said to him, and he ducked his head, then he nodded. "Come on, guys. Let's help Leo out. Spell out his name while he writes it."

"L," we chanted and Leo raised the marker to the board. "E-O-N-A-R-D-O."

"I think I got it, Donnie," Leo admitted. I stood up and looked at it. Okay, it was close enough. "Good job, Leo. Raph, you're up."

"I don't need help," Raph sighed as he wrote his name on the board under Leo's. I smiled widely at Raph behind his back. He had really messy handwriting and he wrote huge. I swear. I could write so small that no one could read it. I could read Raph's writing a mile away.

"Can I do it next?" Mikey squealed.

"Sure," I said. "You were up next anyway."

"Yay!" Mikey cheered and jumped to his feet. I chuckled, rolling my eyes.

"Do I get to do it next?" April asked me, climbing into my lap.

"Only if you want to," I said. "But you'll have to wait until Splinter goes because I'm actually seeing how far they can go on, since they learn a bit faster than humans." April nodded, understanding what I was trying to say. "Mikey, you need help?"

"Yes," Mikey admitted. I looked at the group sitting on the floor.

"M-I-C-H-E-L-A-N-G-E-L-O," we spelled out for Mikey slowly. He actually took the most time because he has the longest name out of all of us. I'm sure he doesn't like that. Sorry, Mikey. It just happened that way.

His handwriting was very similar to Raph's, and I found myself smiling. They are younger by a bit. But, if it works out the way I'm thinking, Splinter will have the neatest handwriting out of the mutants.

"How is your handwriting so neat?" Mikey whined, looking at where I had written my name at the top of the board.

"I've been writing for fifteen, almost sixteen years, Mikey. I think I should be good by now," I explained softly. "Yeah, nearly sixteen years. My birthday is in two weeks."

"Ooh, cool," Mikey breathed as he sat down and Splinter got up.

"Splinter, do you want help?" I wondered. He shook his head slowly and wrote his name on the board. And I had to admit, I saw a significant difference between his handwriting and Mikey's. It wasn't as neat as mine, but it was somewhat close. "April, do you want to try?"

She nodded and I stood up, walking over there. I sat down on the ground right in front and let April stand on my knees, since she wasn't tall enough. I kept a good grip on her while she wrote her name as we spelled it out, all willing to help the only female in the group.

"Good job, April," I said and ran my fingers over her head. I set her down in the semi-circle that the kids had formed around the board and I erased everything off the board. "Okay, that's all for now. We'll continue tomorrow." The kids all smiled at me and left the room. I sighed. Then I glanced at the time on my phone.

"Hey, Leo, you feel like watching everyone for me while I run out for a bit?" I called as I walked out of the dojo and skipped down the stairs. Leo stopped what he was doing and looked at me.

"Sure. Where are you going?" Leo wondered.

"I'm going to run a few errands for May because I asked if I could do anything for her," I explained softly. "Don't tell your brothers, though. If anyone asks where I went, just say I went to go get some fresh air and that I'll be back soon."

"Okay," Leo answered and I smiled gratefully at him. I ran up the stairs and ripped a jacket from my closet. Yeah, I know it was risky going out in the middle of the day, but I wouldn't be seen by all that many people. And the people who did see me, well, I'm good at wearing disguises. Like my writing, I've done it my whole life.

I headed out and ran across the rooftops towards May's apartment. It felt good to run out here. It's been too long since I've really felt like this. I can't easily run with all the kids and if I skip out while they're sleeping, they'll freak out until I get back.

Suddenly, I heard something whip through the air and I ducked just in time to miss the shuriken thrown at me. I jumped to my feet, drawing my Bo-staff out. The surrounding Foot Clan made a pathway and I gulped when the Shredder walked through with Karai at his side. She said she wouldn't tell him I was in New York!

"Hello, Donatello. Did you really think you'd be able to slip right past me and hide here, the only place I expected you to come? When Karai told me that she saw you here, it just confirmed my suspicions," Shredder growled. "And did you really expect me to be so stupid as to not look here first?"

"Well, your daughter's just a bitch who can't keep her mouth shut," I snapped and I felt Shredder backhand me across the face. I fell to my knees, the blood dripping down my cheeks already.

"Take it back," he snarled.

"I won't take back something that isn't true and you know that," I breathed and then I hissed in pain when Shredder slammed his foot down on my fingers and I heard the bone crack. I'm surprised I haven't lost my hand with so many times of breaking my fingers. I broke them just last week. And then he just stomped on them. Oh, it hurts.

I dug around in my bag briefly with my free hand and pulled out a smoke bomb. Shredder laughed in my face. "Do you expect me to be thrown off by an egg?" Shredder asked.

"No. You'll be thrown off, though," I hissed and threw it at him. The egg exploded into purple and black smoke and I ran off, as fast as I could. I couldn't go back to the sewers and I couldn't go to May's because either way, someone I hold close would be hurt. So, my only option is to lead them from New York.

I heard half the Foot Clan follow me and I sped up, my blood pumping and my heart pulsing in my head. The wound was quickly bleeding out and I would certainly pass out from blood loss in a matter of time. I just hope I'm far enough away from them when it happens.

I swear, I saw May on my escape. I wanted to tell her to get the kids and bring them somewhere safe, but if I even spoke to her, Shredder would go after her and she doesn't even know where the kids are in the sewers.

I jumped off the edge of the building and slipped into an alley. I fell through an empty manhole just perfectly and they totally lost track of where I went. Oh, God, thank you. Whatever good I did, thank you so much for returning the favor. I fell to my knees, panting and holding my cheek.

I kept eying the open manhole, expecting the Foot Clan or someone to find me down here. They really are stupid.

I eventually got to my feet and pulled out my T-phone. I dialed May's number, getting blood on the screen. I held it to my ear and sat back down. I was getting a little light-headed. Well, then sitting here isn't the best idea. I better get closer to the lair before I pass out so the kids don't have far to go to find me if I do.

May answered. "Hello," she asked.

"Hey, May. Look, I'm sorry I can't go get your groceries this week. And I don't suggest you going out to go get them. I-I just got jumped by a really bad guy and he's out for any innocent people on the streets," I explained. I heard her gasp. "But, I will be by later to talk to you. I promise."

"Okay, Donatello," she said sadly. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Just a little blood. But I'll heal," I sighed as I started trudging through the tunnel, holding my cheek to keep from bleeding to death. I've lost too much blood in the past year to be perfectly healthy. Sooner or later, I'm going to need a few transfusions to keep me alive. And I don't feel like taking blood from the guys.

"Do you want some help getting home?" May wondered, concerned.

"No. Just…stay in your apartment. That's the only way you'd be able to help. I-I don't want you to get hurt like me," I insisted.

I eventually talked her into just staying at her apartment until I came around later. And I would. I had to go see her and make sure she's okay. But I really need to find a new hide out which is going to suck.

By the time I got to the lair, I couldn't see straight. And I couldn't walk straight either, so that didn't help me in the slightest. I think I ran into a wall sometime before I made the lair. But, the minute when the kids saw the blood, they all ran at me and tried to help me to the infirmary.

I think I did my stitches wrong, but who gives a crap anymore? It's not like it matters now. I laid back, enjoying the fact that I seemed to have taught my kids that I need to eat a lot of sugar if I go light-headed, because that's what they did. They brought me just about all the sugar we had in the house and that made me feel so much better. You see, with me, I found early on that if I eat sugar when I lose a lot of blood, it helps my body produce more blood so much faster. It was really useful to know. Because it truly was helping me. Thankfully I didn't need to take any blood from the turtles.

"What happened?" Leo asked me.

I looked at him with a mouthful of marshmallows. Don't ask why I have these. I keep a lot of sugar around here. The guys just don't realize it unless they have a plan on raiding their own house, which is not very often.

"I got attacked by the guy who raised me my whole life and his daughter he wants me to marry," I growled through the food and Leo's eyes widened. I'm so glad he probably didn't hear me curse somewhere in there. I've really got a problem. It's another habit, I guess. I've always thought of Karai that way.

"Donnie, are you going to freak out the same way as last time?" he breathed.

"No. I won't do that to you guys again," I said. "And I didn't kill anyone this time. It was just because last time, that was the first guy I had ever killed and I didn't like the feeling it left me. But we have to hide because I fear that they're going to be looking through the city for me and if he knows about you guys, I won't be able to protect you."

I grabbed any weapons I had in my lab and bedroom, one of my laptops, some notebooks, some books to read, my markers, and a small whiteboard and shoved it into a duffel bag I pulled out of my closet. I also grabbed some pillows and blankets off of my bed and off of their beds, along with clothes for the humans.

All of my kids watched me worriedly. "Where are we going?" April asked me.

"I don't know, but I'm sure we're leaving NYC," I told them all softly as I picked Timothy and April up. "Come on. We have to go get May."

"She's coming with?" Raph wondered.

"Yeah. If they were to find out that she's friends with me…I would feel awful if something bad happened to her," I breathed. I walked out of the lair and the kids followed behind me. "Okay, here's the plan. We stay in the sewers, wandering as far away from the lair as possible, until nightfall, then we run from this place. I have a slight idea of where we're going to be hiding until it's safe. On our way, we pick up May and take her with us." They all seemed to understand. Oh, I'm so worried. What if something bad happens while they're up there with me? I'll never forgive myself. I'd never be able to move on. Well, I need the luck now. But I have a feeling luck is the last thing I have on my side right now.


	12. New Hideout

**Pairings:** _Donnie/May(slightly)_

**A/N:** _Sorry I haven't updated this story in a while. I've been at a loss for inspiration on this story for a while. Donnie needs to find a new place to live for now. Oh, and who can guess the song that Donnie sings in this chapter? Also, the point of view shifts. I think it should be obvious as to whose point of view it is, but if you don't know, it changes to Donnie's._

* * *

**Chapter 12:** _New Hideout_

**POV: **_Leo's_

I walked by Donnie faithfully. It's been a long night. It was freezing out here. Donnie had brought us from the lair a few hours ago. I was in charge of carrying April and Splinter was carrying Timothy. Donnie was carrying May in his arms and I could tell that he had been crying. His cheek was bleeding, but I don't think he noticed.

"How much longer?" I asked him.

"It shouldn't be that much longer. I know where we're going," Donnie told me. I nodded silently and April laid her head on my plastron.

"I sure hope everything's going to be okay," I whispered to her. She nodded.

"I hope Donnie's going to be okay," she agreed. I could agree.

We reached our destination an hour later and I set April down on the ground. She sighed and Donnie put May on her feet. "Where are we?" May asked him.

"At a place I found on my way into New York," Donnie answered. I looked around me. It was snowing out. Gladly, Donnie had dressed us before we had left. We were surrounded on forests on either side of us, and the place Donnie had taken us to was a log cabin. It was really big with a chimney. It looked very cozy and hidden out here.

"Do you think we'll be safe here?" I wondered.

"For the most part," Donnie sighed. "I'll have to set up security, but we'll have to do out here for now without it because I couldn't take my things with us."

"We could've carried it for you," I offered as Donnie led us inside. Donnie dropped his duffel bag on the floor and sat May down on the couch. April and then Timothy were placed up there next to her. Donnie sat down on the floor as the rest of us jumped up onto the couch and looked at him. He ran his hand over his cheek and sighed.

"It doesn't matter. It would've been too heavy to carry back," I heard him mutter.

He grabbed the duffel bag and dug around in there until he found what he was looking for. It was his first aid kit. At least he had been smart enough to pack it. I mean, I know that Donnie's smart, but he doesn't seem to care about his own safety or health much lately.

I watched carefully as he stitched himself back up without looking in a mirror once. It was impressive, and I'm sure he did it right.

"I have so many freaking scars," he sighed to himself after he finished. He rubbed his knuckles absently. "From smashing into walls, getting sliced with knives, broken glass, and other things, being beaten, and so many other things." He looked up at us on the couch suddenly, like he knew we were watching him. "You guys have it so lucky."

"How?" Casey asked.

"After all I've been through, I still have the fight in me to be nice to you guys," he explained. "I can be really nice to you. I give you places to sleep, things to eat and drink, nice things to play with. I was never given these things growing up."

Mikey gasped. Okay, Donnie might not have told Mikey this story. Probably not anyone other than me. "Really?" Mikey asked.

"Yes, Mikey. Really. I guess I'm so nice with the fact that I'm not able to handle violence like the person who raised me, the way I was supposed to be raised by him. I can't stand being mean to someone, no matter what they've done. The only few people I'm every really mean to are Karai, his daughter, and the Shredder himself. It's in my blood to be mean to the people who were always so mean to me," Donnie muttered, rubbing his knuckles again. He let out a breath, wincing slightly as he stood up. "Do you guys want anything to eat?"

"Not really," May whispered.

Mikey, Casey, Raph, and Timothy all nodded. Donnie pulled out a box of cereal he had packed and handed it to the four hungry boys. Donnie stalked off towards where I assumed was a kitchen. I stayed on the couch with May.

"Aren't you scared? Well, that's just fine. Say it once, say it twice. Take a chance and roll the dice," Donnie hummed to himself as he walked back out ten minutes later. He seemed to be in a better mood now.

He pumped up an air mattress and gave the kids some blankets. He said good night to us all, and then brought May back to some bedrooms.

"Leo, I'm scared," Mikey whimpered in the dark. "What if we never go home?"

I pulled him closer and hugged him. "It's going to be alright. We'll go home once this is over," I breathed, trying not to wake anyone up.

"What if it never ends?" Mikey whispered.

"It will. We'll help Donnie in any way we can, and he'll figure this out," I told him. He nodded weakly and I wiped the tears from his cheeks in the moonlight that streamed through the windows on the roof.

"Good night, Leo," Mikey sniffled. I kissed his head softly.

"Goodnight, Mikey," I sighed.

* * *

I groaned as I felt someone climb up onto my bed. I looked around in the dark, my vision failing me for a second. Blood loss does that to people. When I regained my vision, I saw that it was April and…Raph. No, I must be seeing wrong. It's probably Mikey or Leo. It's never Raph.

"What's wrong, you two?" I asked, sitting up.

"April had a bad dream," I heard Raph explain, but the tears on his cheeks gave it away that it wasn't only April who had a bad dream. I brought them both onto my lap and held them close.

"What was it about?" I asked them.

"My dream was about the man who caused us to leave home," April sniffled.

"I dreamt about when you were little and what possibly could've happened to you," Raph admitted, rubbing his cheeks with the back of his hand. "We compared our images of the man and they weren't far away from each other's."

"I bet both of you are way off, though," I told them as I pulled a picture out of my belt. It was something Karai had given me the first time I saw her in New York after I left. I didn't particularly want to show them this, in fear that they'd never sleep again, but they probably want to know. I found a flashlight on the floor that I had pulled out of the duffel bag earlier and I turned it on. I laid the photo on the bed and shined the flashlight on it.

They both gasped in horror. Yeah, they're never sleeping again. That's okay, because I really didn't want to sleep after seeing this photo.

It was sort of a "family" photo. Karai and I were in the middle. This was when I was really little. Karai was about ten. I was about Leo's age. I was sitting on the ground, my ankles and wrists in chains. Karai stood next to me. Shredder stood behind us and Foot soldiers stood on either side of all of us. My head was drooped and my eyes were closed, tears streaking down my cheeks. I was the only one who wasn't smiling, except for the Foot ninjas, and I've never figured out if they have any emotion whatsoever.

"That was a painful day for me. I had been chained up for something wrong I did while I was doing something, and they decided it'd be funny if they took a "happy" picture of us. Of course, I was never happy while I was a child, so it was pointless," I sighed and April looked up at me with teary blue eyes. "I never told anyone this, but I was actually already planning my escape at that time. I never knew the odds would play out in my favor long enough for me to escape, but I was planning it at that time. It was because of what Shredder did when he found out I had not smiled for the picture."

"What did he do?" Raph asked, scared out of his mind.

"Karai or the Foot Clan never found this out because Shredder was good at cleaning up evidence, but Shredder beat me to the ground that day afterwards. I couldn't move because I was still chained to the wall. But I managed to slip one hand free for long enough to land a solid hit on him," I told them, rubbing my foot. "He broke my foot so badly I couldn't walk on it for the month following that. He never gave me time to fix it. After a month, a Foot soldier caught on as to why it was always so painful to stand, and he fixed my foot for me. I never saw that Foot soldier again after that."

"Oh, God," Raph breathed.

"Yeah. There's always been the occasional Foot soldier that helps me out. It's not very common because the first one that died had been liked by many of them and they didn't want the same fate, but there was always one that stood up and helped," I explained.

"Donnie, our image of him wasn't far off," April told me. I looked at her and she nodded. "Long and many blades, a metal suit, a mask over his face."

I was about to say something when I heard someone knock on the door. I froze in my spot, my blood going colder than it normally was. I groped around in the dark for my Bo-staff, turning off the flashlight. "Stay here," I breathed as I walked out of the room. Leo was up, and he looked terrified. I shushed him silently and went to the door. I felt like the door was going to explode as I undid the lock and opened the door.

Before I could beat the Foot soldier standing there, he held up his hands silently and took off his mask. My jaw dropped. It was him, the guy I was just talking about! The Foot soldier that helped with my foot!

"Mark?" I choked out. Oh, wow, I still remember his name. The only positive influence on my childhood. No wonder.

"Hey, Donatello," he said to me and bowed. "It's nice to see you're still alive."

"It's nice to see you, too," I laughed. "I spent thirteen years of my life thinking you were dead."

"Nope. I just skipped out of town before Shredder could find out who did it. I heard he was itching for men, and I rejoined to find you before anyone else could," Mark answered, pulling out a phone. He spoke clearly into the microphone of the phone. "No one's out in the country. All clear."

He slipped it away after shutting the microphone off and he smiled at me. "You should be safe out here for a while," he told me.

I smiled and gave him a big hug. "How'd you know I was out here?" I asked him.

"I followed you out here," he explained. "You looked _really_ scary as you were making your way out here, so I decided that after a few hours of sleep, you'd be feeling better."

"So, you know about who I have with me?" I wondered.

"Who do you have with you? I only ever saw you," he told me.

"Huh. I guess I was doing a good job of hiding them. How about you come inside?" I offered. He nodded and I let him in. He smiled at me.

"He gotcha recently?" Mark guessed as he saw the stitches on my cheek.

"Some things never change. I," I chuckled, "I called his daughter a bitch earlier and he got pissed."

He laughed. "Yeah, some things never change," he agreed.

"I used to call her a lot worse," I murmured. He rolled his eyes. I nodded. "Oh, hey, Leo, come meet someone I used to know when I was a child."

Leo got up slowly and I smiled at him. "I wouldn't trick you into trusting someone I don't trust. I would've whipped his butt outside if I didn't trust him, but I suppose you're right for being on your toes," I said. I brought Leo over to Mark and Mark's eyes widened.

"There's more of your kind?" Mark asked.

"Yeah, I had the same thought. I have two more of them aside from him. Leo, this is Mark, a guy who helped me when I was little. Mark, this is Leonardo, but everyone calls him Leo. He's actually my kid, and I think he's my fourth oldest," I introduced.

"Nice to meet you," Mark chuckled, smiling. Leo returned the smile.

I headed back to get April and Raph, but I almost ran into May. "Oh, hey, May. What are you doing up?" I wondered, brushing her hair back behind her cheeks.

"I was getting some water," May answered.

"Oh. I-I can get you some water," I said.

"Who was at the door?" she wondered.

My cheeks grew red. She heard me answer the door. Oh, so she knows someone's here. Oh, yeah. She's blind. She can hear a lot better than most people. "Uh, a friend of mine from a while ago. He helped me when I was little," I explained. She smiled at me. "I'll bring your water back in a second. You can go back to your bed if you want."

She wouldn't let me get her water for her, though. So, I had to bring her out. Great. I wanted to avoid about Mark knowing about May. But, it's unavoidable. I grabbed Raph and April and brought them out with me and May. Mark seemed very interested in May. Raph and April were very glad that Mark was here, after learning that he was the one who fixed me foot. Eventually, the others woke up and were curious about why Mark was here. The only one who couldn't accept Mark was Mikey.

He crawled into my lap while I sat in the chair. "What's wrong, Mikey?" I asked him. "Why don't you like Mark?"

"He wearing the symbol that you showed us a while ago of the guys who were mean to you," Mikey sniffled, not bothering with the correct grammar. And for once, I didn't correct him. Because he had a good point and a good eye.

"Yeah, I know. But bad guys can be good if they want to be," I told him. "Have you ever thought about the fact that _I_ might be a bad guy?"

He pouted up at me. "No," he admitted.

"Well, I can be a very bad guy. I've killed someone. But I'm good most of the time. I've been good to you, haven't I?" I questioned. He nodded. "So, bad guys can be good. And Mark is a good person, just like you."

He looked down at his lap and smiled back up at me. "Okay," he chuckled.

Mark stayed the night in the bedroom that May had stayed in. She stayed in my room. She was very quiet through the night and I'm glad. I just wanted some time to think. So, I recovered a friend from a while ago. Everyone is safe. Everyone's happy. And I'm glad.


	13. Back to New York

**Pairings:**_ none_

**A/N:**_ Sorry it's been a while since I've updated this story. I've been really busy. Oh, who's seen the new turtles recently? I love that episode so much. "Here, squirrelly, squirrelly, squirrel. Come and get it!" :D I love that! Mikey's voice was so cute! This chapter is going to suck, I just know it will. But, some things happen and the turtles and the group are going back to New York. Not going to say anything else. And I'm sorry for this chapter. I've just sort of lost inspiration for a bit. But, the story should get happier soon. I promise. No matter what I do, it will get happier. And I think I'll start a new story on here. It's because of a thing I went to last Friday. I got to try and survive a zombie apocalypse. :D And this chapter was hard to write._

**Chapter 13: **_ Back to New York_

**POV: **_April's(for probably the first time on this story)_

Donnie was careful as he scooped me up into his arms and held me close for the first time in about a week. He's been busy lately. He's dead set on going home as soon as possible, but I'm not sure if it will be possible any time soon. Well, I don't mind hiding out here. It's so pretty. It's been snowing for the past hour now and it's so beautiful.

Mark has been with us for about three weeks now. He seems really nice but I know Leo's having a hard time trusting him. I don't really blame him. Sometimes he has trust issues and I know I do, too, but I can trust Mark to an extent. I mean, after everything Donnie has gone through, he should be careful of who he trusts. But, he's not really listening to the reasons Leo has pointed out for not trusting Mark. While Mark is in the room. I can imagine Mark really doesn't like Leo at this point in time.

Donnie's eyes closed softly and I watched him sleep. It was the only thing I've actually seen him do. He's really been out a lot recently, as well. I hardly see him anymore. So, it's really nice just being able to watch him do something.

Mark barged into the room and Leo yelped softly, covering his mouth in shock. Donnie startled awake and put me down on the couch, jumping up. I frowned up at him, but he didn't see it. I shook my head as I crawled down onto the floor next to Leo, who is one of the few people who actually pays attention to me lately.

"I wonder what the news is now," Leo muttered, going back to the picture he was drawing. He wasn't really into art, but he was really good with drawing and coloring. Mikey was the artistic person of the group. Even then, he's not as good as Leo. So, Leo draws the pictures out of boredom and then Mikey colors them and gives them back to Leo. He has a ton of them.

"I wouldn't know. They never talk loud enough to let us know," I sighed. I looked at the picture Leo was drawing. And I can admit he was spot on about what was going to happen if Mark hurt Donnie in any way. It was almost the same thing as what happened last time Donnie broke down, a few months ago.

Donnie turned to the kids sitting in the living room and May who was letting Splinter read to her in the chair. "Guys, Mark just brought amazing news. We're going home tomorrow," Donnie announced, smiling. Everyone but Leo and me smiled. We didn't want to leave. And Leo wasn't sure he was ready to let Mark tell us if we could go home. I was starting to feel the same way.

Since it was late, May and Mark went to bed, and Donnie tucked us in, but Leo wasn't willing enough to listen to Donnie. And I was very intent on making Donnie see Leo's point of view before I let Donnie convince me to do anything. I don't really like disobeying Donnie because any time I did, I felt really guilty, but Donnie wasn't feeling all that guilty about pretty much leaving us on our own all day.

Donnie finally found us hiding on the far side of his bed after everyone was asleep. I was helping Leo color the picture he had drawn earlier. "Guys, why aren't you happy about going home?" Donnie asked us softly, sitting on the bed by us.

"I like it here," I admitted, not really looking at him.

"But I thought you wanted to go home," Donnie said, confused.

"Not anymore. And are we really going to let Mark tell us when we can go home?" Leo muttered, not looking up at him, either.

"We can trust him. He's helped me so much recently, doing things for me," Donnie sighed.

"Well, if he's helping so much, how come you're never around?" I sniffled. I didn't like doing this at all, but it was necessary. Leo's finally convinced me not to trust Mark.

"April," Donnie murmured, picking me up and putting me in his lap. I still wouldn't look at him. He stroked my hair that was about two inches now behind my ear and I looked at my lap. Donnie made me feel guilty when he did this, but I've never told him. I used to like it, up until everything went wrong and we left New York. "What are you drawing, Leo?"

"I wouldn't be drawing it if Mark wasn't here," Leo hissed and stood up, shocking Donnie a bit. Leo crumpled it up and threw it at Donnie before running out of the room in tears. Donnie set me down and ran after him without even looking at the picture, but he stored it in his belt to look at later. I sighed and tucked myself in, curling up in a ball. I fell asleep before Donnie came back into his room.

In the morning, Donnie was waiting with breakfast for everyone. Everything was packed up already. Donnie looked really unhappy while we were eating, and Leo was very cold to everyone. I guess Donnie wasn't able to get Leo to calm down last night and now everyone was paying for it. Great. Leo's not one to complain, but he's probably going to complain about everything on the way home just to bother Donnie. I can imagine Donnie was very close to losing his temper at everyone. Except for everyone who's actually been happy that Mark was here to help. So that means he'll get mad at Leo and me.

Mark was actually able to bring a car up here so we could just get a ride home instead of walking for hours like last time. So, after breakfast, we got everything in the car and got in before Donnie drove home, completely silent to everyone except for Mark, and they were talking about ideas to take out Shredder. I tried to tell them that it would never work with two adults and someone who had no fighting experience and couldn't see, and seven little kids with little to no fighting experience. But Donnie didn't listen to anything I said. I believe it was a continuation of what happened last night.

Mikey leaned against me and I felt that he was crying. I was really glad we were at the back of the car so if we whispered, Donnie wouldn't know. "What's wrong?" I whispered to him. Leo looked over sadly, on the verge of tears himself.

"Donnie's not being very nice," Mikey sniffled. "And I don't like it when Donnie's mean to people. Especially us."

"I know, Mikey. But there's nothing we can do about it," I sighed.

"Do about what?" Donnie questioned. He didn't sound mad, just curious. And that was what made me mad. He should know exactly what we're talking about but right now, he's blind to everything happening around him. And it's all Mark's fault.

"Why does it concern you?" Leo and I snapped. Donnie slammed down on the brakes, stopping the car and turning around to face us in his seat. He looked really upset and mad. Before he could say anything to us, Leo scooped up Mikey and the three of us got out of the car quickly and Leo and I took off running down the street, Mikey gripping Leo quickly. Mikey didn't mind to be away. Normally, if he didn't want to leave Donnie, he'd throw a fit, much like me when I was really little. But, Mikey only thanked us.

We heard a car door close and feet crunching in the snow. We just kept running for home, glad Donnie had showed us many ways to get home. Donnie caught my wrist and stopped me, and Leo slid to a stop two yards away.

"Why are you guys so unhappy?" Donnie demanded. "You guys are the only ones who are unhappy right now and I want to know why."

"We wouldn't be so unhappy if Mark wasn't with us. You're obviously blind to what's going on. Mark is probably just leading us into a trap and when it's all over, you're going to be the only one who's upset over it. We probably won't care because we're trying to help you now and all you're doing is ignoring us," Leo cried. Mikey and I nodded. Donnie looked back at the car and gave someone a hand signal that I didn't understand. The car started back off and drove off. What was he doing? I wasn't intending on walking all the way home!

Donnie sighed and picked me up, cradling me to his chest. This time I actually appreciated it, because it's cold and Donnie's always so warm. "Come on. They won't beat us home," Donnie mentioned. I nodded numbly. Leo sniffled and nodded slightly.

We did make it to the manhole before them. Then we waited until they got there because Donnie was the only one who knew where to go from here. So, fifteen minutes later, we all traveled into the sewers and back to the lair. Mark seemed oddly smug. I had no idea why, but Donnie didn't even noticed. But, with a shock of fear, we all knew exactly why Leo and I were right.

In the center of the room, a guy with lots of spikes stood with a girl dressed similarly standing next to him. And Donnie just about blacked out with terror. "You ass," Donnie hissed to Mark. He set me down before the guy with spikes could realize what Donnie was doing and Donnie grabbed Mark by his collar. Donnie whipped Mark across the room and into the guy with spikes, causing us all to jump and Mark to sink to the floor, gasping for air. The girl didn't seem too happy about the confrontation. Neither did Donnie.

"Oh, look," the guy with spikes said to the girl, pointing at us. "Donatello here has some slaves."

"They're not slaves!" Donnie cried. "I would never treat someone the way you treated me!"

I gulped. It was…the Shredder. Oh, no. Donnie, you should really stop talking now. I don't want you to get hurt. "Guys, go. Get as far away from this place as possible. Don't look back and don't wait up," Donnie breathed, tilting his head back. No! No matter what, I'm not leaving Donnie to die by himself. No matter what he's done.

No one wanted to leave. We weren't going to leave Donnie's side. Donnie dropped his bag and pulled out his Bo-staff. He gripped it in his hands. "You're still using that?" Shredder asked Donnie, laughing evilly. Donnie growled.

"Of course. It's the least violent weapon you gave me," Donnie snarled. "But I can still deliver a great deal of damage. Guys, go!" We jumped and ran down the tunnel, regretting each step we took further from Donnie. I was in tears as we all ran for our lives. I could hear metal clang and a single scream rung out in the tunnels. And we all stopped and looked back…

* * *

**A/N:**_ I apologize to all of you Donnie fans. And I am evil. You won't know if Donnie's going to make it until I upload the next chapter. Please review this chapter and tell me what you think I should do with the story now. And I promise I'll upload the next chapter as soon as possible. Maybe even as soon as later tonight. It all depends on what I feel like writing tonight. _


	14. Sad Smiles

**Pairings: **_none_

**A/N:**_ I'm back! Aren't you glad you're going to find out what's going to happen next? This will probably be the last chapter I'll add in a while, but I don't know. My problem is that I entered myself in a novel-writing contest in November, and I have all of November to write my novel, and it'll take focus. But, at least I'm adding this now so you have something to read while I'm not updating. But I might manage another chapter in the next four days. Who knows? If you want to read the novel I'm writing, go to .com. My username is SpartaBlaze12 if you're interested. :D And sorry the chapter is sad and probably really crappy._

* * *

**Chapter 14: **_Sad Smiles_

**POV:**_ Raph's_

I felt tears fill my eyes as I heard Donnie scream like that. I had never heard him like that, in so much pain. I wanted so much to run to him and hold him. I missed him so much. But, as I tried to run back for home, Leo caught my arm sadly. I was met with teary blue eyes. "He said not to go back to him," he whispered, sniffling.

"We can't just leave him there!" I cried, not wanting to listen to Leo.

"The least we can do is listen to him now. He asked us to leave him behind, and we have to listen to him," Leo moaned. "I was so mean to him earlier. I'm determined to do whatever he says, no matter how much I don't want to."

"Leo's right," April sobbed, in May's arms. "We have to listen to Donnie."

"I don't care! Donnie's going to get himself killed if we don't go back and help him!" I yelled at them.

"We'd do more harm than good, Raph. We'd just be a distraction to Donnie, and if we were to try and help, we don't know nearly enough to stop Shredder," Leo pointed out, letting my arm go. I didn't run, though. He did have a point, and no matter how much it hurt, I had to admit that he was right.

"May, do you know the way back to your apartment from here?" Splinter asked softly, speaking for the first time in a while.

"I'm not quite sure where we are," May admitted.

"We can take you to the place where we saw you for the first time. You knew how to get to your apartment from there," Mikey and Timothy offered. April nodded against May's chest.

"Do you know where that was?" May asked.

"Yes," Leo spoke. May nodded silently.

"Then lead the way," May said. Leo ran up to her and took her hand. She smiled and let all of us lead her forward, even me. I was going to help. We knew that May meant a lot to Donnie and we did, too. We knew that Donnie would want all of us to stay safe and that's why he had sent us away.

We made our way up to the surface, leading May up carefully. She appreciated the help. While we were standing at the bottom while waiting for May to get up, Leo looked at me. "I really want to back to Donnie," he whispered.

"Then why wouldn't you let me go?" I asked him.

"Because I don't want Donnie to get mad at me. It'd be awful if he died knowing we hadn't listened to him," he admitted. "I don't want him to die being mad at us."

"As much as I hate to admit it, you're right. That wouldn't be a very good idea to let Donnie die knowing that," I sighed. Leo nodded. A minute later, I added, "And Donnie's not mad at you anymore."

"What do you mean? All I've done the past two or three weeks is disobey anything that comes out of Donnie's mouth. He probably died hating me," Leo muttered.

"No. You were the first one to question Mark. And you had every right to. Mark ended up being a bad guy. You, although no one noticed, were the one who truly saw what Mark was up to. And it was our fault that we didn't believe you. Donnie probably blames himself for not questioning Mark like he should have," I explained as Mikey, then Splinter climbed up, Timothy and Casey clinging to their backs.

"But I probably really hurt Donnie's feelings by not listening to him," Leo whispered.

"He wasn't listening to you. It was only fair," I pointed out. Leo sighed, looking down at his feet. "Come on. We have to go before they leave us behind." I jumped onto the ladder and climbed up, glad we had a ladder. I heard Leo splash through the water and he followed me up. Together, we closed the manhole and ran after the others.

We led May to the place where we first saw her, and she led us the rest of the way to her apartment. Leo and I stayed at the back of the pack, watching our siblings follow May. Leo and I talked quietly, just wanting to keep each other company. Leo seemed very upset and lonely and I felt sort of guilty for that, so I talked to him. I ended up carrying him halfway to May's house because he just didn't want to go on. And, no matter how heavy he was to me, I was determined not to leave anyone else behind.

Knowing we were probably being watched out for, May rushed us into her apartment. It was pretty nice. The living room walls were painted a soft purple—I found that even though I preferred the color red, I really enjoyed the comfort of looking at them—and the furniture was white. There was a hallway leading from the living room/kitchen—the kitchen, we found out, was stocked with tons of delicious foods—with several bedrooms and a bathroom. It was a pretty big apartment for someone living by themselves, but we supposed it would help us quite a bit now that we would be staying here for a while.

Since it was getting late by the time we got there, she organized us into rooms. Mikey, Leo, and I would be sharing a room. Timothy and Splinter shared a room, Casey got his own—probably a really good idea since Timothy and Casey argued a lot, just like I argued with him a lot—room and April got to share with May. It makes sense. I just don't know how she managed to organize us without being able to see us and know our personalities. Donnie must've spent a lot of time talking to her.

Leo refused to sleep through the night. So, that meant that I stayed up with him while Mikey slept between us on the bed. He was a cute sleeper, I had to admit.

"Do you think that Donnie's gone by now?" Leo asked me softly in the dark.

I sighed. "Probably. I'm sure he's been dead since he screamed," I muttered and Leo winced.

I ended up shifting Mikey over to my side and I sat in the middle. Leo curled up next to me and cried into me. I held him close, rubbing his shell like Donnie had always done. I'm sure that made Leo cry harder. But, I held him close all night and he eventually fell asleep, and before I could go under with him, I felt Mikey tuck his head against my neck. I could feel his hot breath and I was comforted enough to fall asleep, pulling Mikey close, too.

In the morning, Leo was up and out of the bedroom before I was up. But, Mikey was still clinging to me. His cheeks were tear-stained and I felt bad that he had cried through the night. I rubbed his head softly, sitting up. Mikey wasn't quite happy I was moving, though. He muttered something in his sleep and I chuckled softly.

"Mikey, get up. Breakfast is ready," I lied and Mikey shot up.

"What are we eating?" Mikey asked me.

"I don't know," I told him and he looked at me with wide eyes.

"You suck, Raph," he muttered and laid back down.

"Come on. You have to get up sooner or later," I sighed.

"Wake me when breakfast is ready," he moaned and closed his eyes. Rolling mine, I walked out of the bedroom and into the living room. Leo was watching the window for whatever reason, and the rest of my siblings were watching TV. Well, except for April. She was sitting in the kitchen while May made breakfast. And I had to admit, a woman who couldn't see sure looked like she knew what she was doing. April was talking about that.

"I've been taught how to cook my whole life so I could somehow get around my disability," May explained. "I think I'm quite good at it by now."

"It looks like it," April said softly. I nodded as I walked over to Leo.

"What are you looking at?" I asked him, sitting down on the windowsill with Leo. It was a wide windowsill. We were both able to sit on it without hanging off a bit.

"Just looking," he lied softly.

"I know you're lying," I called him out. He sighed, casting his eyes down at his hands in his lap.

"I'm watching for Donnie," Leo breathed.

I looked at him. He really felt bad for what had happened to Donnie, although it wasn't his fault. He should know this wasn't his fault. I placed a hand over his and he looked up at me with wet eyes. "Leo, it's not your fault," I whispered. He closed his eyes painfully.

Leo didn't answer me, just looked back out the window, not moving his gaze. I sighed. "Leo, do you want to train a bit? I'm sure Donnie would want us to continue with that," I offered. He glared at me and I swear, it scared me a bit.

"How the shell are we supposed to do that? We don't have a teacher anymore," Leo snapped at me. And I didn't bother to tell him that he had admitted to the fact that he knew Donnie wasn't coming back to us. I'm sure he knew that.

"We could always find a book or something," I told him and he sobbed, burying his face in his knees. I felt everyone look over at us and I laid my head back. I was just making things worse. "Okay, forget I said anything. I'm sorry. I'm just trying to help, but I'm not good at this." I got up off of the ledge and went back to the bedroom I was sharing with Mikey and Leo.

I heard someone follow behind me and I whirled around. I found that Leo was the one who was following me. "What, Leo?" I asked him.

"Are you really willing to train with me?" he whispered, reaching for my hand. I let him take it as I looked him in the eye. He seemed so uncertain of everything right now and I didn't blame him. I was really lost right now, too. Donnie was always the one who told us what to do and we relied on him telling us to do something. Without him, we weren't sure what to do.

"Yeah, I'd be willing to try and learn some new stuff, but we should probably go through everything we have learned," I told him. He nodded and I felt his grip on my hand tighten. I smiled at him.

Splinter, Leo, Mikey, and I trained all day. We weren't able to find a book anywhere on how to learn ninjitsu—we weren't all that sure if that was what it was called or not so that was a problem for us and we didn't necessarily know how to spell it, either, so we probably missed it somewhere—but we did practice and practice everything we had learned. We did this almost all day and we were all tired, but we kept at it. We wanted to make Donnie proud of us, although we all knew and had admitted that Donnie was never returning. Also, I'm sure Leo wasn't quitting because he was determined to get revenge on Shredder for killing Donnie eventually. I never told anyone that that was my intention.

It was getting pretty late when April got our attention. "Guys!" she cried. We all ran over to where she was. We thought she had seen Shredder out the window or one of the ninjas Donnie had talked about. She had been in charge of watching the window all day. So, we were freaking out.

"What, April?" Leo demanded, taking over for me as leader for a bit.

"It's Donnie!" April explained. WHAT?! I pressed my face against the windowpane and, sure enough, I saw a dark figure standing in the shadows across the street. But, this guy wasn't dressed in black and didn't have spikes all over him. We could all clearly see the small puddle of blood at this guy's feet, and we all immediately recognized the green skin. We were all on edge and wanted so badly to run to him, but we weren't quite sure if Shredder was using Donnie to get to us yet.

Donnie's eyes suddenly flashed up to the window and we swear, Donnie's eyes were glowing red. It was probably the coolest and the scariest thing I had ever seen. Blood glistened on his cheeks and he raised his hand. The palm was coated in blood. And that was what made me run for the bathroom and get the sickest I had ever been in my life. It was awful. I had never seen so much blood. It was really making me feel awful.

When I came back into the living room ten minutes later after Leo had come to find me and keep an eye out for me, Donnie was sitting in the kitchen on the floor, digging through his bag. My siblings were watching him from the counter and May was sitting on the floor by Donnie.

Leo immediately ran for Donnie and crawled into his lap. Donnie smiled weakly. "I missed you, too, Leo," he murmured as he found what he was looking for. Something to sew up his wound. Which I'm not exactly sure where it was. I just knew he must have a pretty serious one.

I sat down on the floor in front of Donnie and looked over him. I could spot his injury from where I saw. It was on the underside of his left leg. He must've been stabbed there. I couldn't tell what he was stabbed with, though.

"Guys, I-I need you to do me a favor," Donnie spoke to us. I'm not sure who he was talking to, though.

"What do you want us to do?" Leo asked, getting up and standing up in front of Donnie at my side.

"Well, I really only need you, Raph, and Mikey, but I'm sure the others can help out here," Donnie explained. "I-I've lost way too much blood recently to still be breathing right now. I know I'm asking a lot from you three, but I'll need to borrow some blood from you three."

I looked at him suspiciously. He needs to "borrow" blood? How can he do that? And the only idea I could think of on how he could do that wasn't all that pleasant. "I promise I don't need much. Just enough to keep me on my feet. And Raph, I know that look. It's not like I'm going to really hurt you three. I promise it won't hurt much. And that's actually where the rest of you come in. Just in case it hurts one of them, I'll need you to hold them down."

Leo nodded solemnly. I wasn't too keen on the idea, but, I wasn't about to lose Donnie. I'd do whatever it took. And Mikey looked terrified at the idea. "How will you take blood?" Mikey whispered.

"With a needle," Donnie answered softly and Mikey whimpered. "Mikey, I promise you, it won't hurt that much. I've stuck a needle in your arm or wrist before. You lived. And if it hurts, you've got all of us to go to for comfort." Mikey climbed down from the counter and so did my siblings. Donnie pulled out another needle aside from the one he was going to use to stitch up his wound. Then I noticed a bleeding wound on the side of his head. Oh, God. Lots of blood. And it looked painful. I covered my mouth and pointed at Donnie's head. He sighed and placed a hand against his head. "I know, Raph. It hurts."

I nodded. Donnie picked up the first needle and began stitching up his leg. It must have been uncomfortable for him to bend to stitch it up.

"So, what happened to the Shredder?" Mikey asked softly after Donnie finished his leg and started on his head without having to look in a mirror.

"I don't know. And, if you all freaked out, that wasn't my scream. It was his," Donnie explained. I looked at him. "He probably wasn't aware of the fact that I've practiced a lot and he wasn't aware of the fact that there's a hidden blade in the end of my Bo-staff, my creation of a traditional Japanese and ninjitsu weapon that Shredder had never heard of. Shows how much he actually respected the art of ninjitsu. And if you're also wondering how I knew you'd be here, you guys talk really loud on where you plan on going. You're just really lucky Shredder and the Foot Clan didn't know where you lived, May, or else you'd have all been dead by the time I got here."

I gulped as Donnie finished. "And I took care of his daughter," he sighed, and seeing the looks we gave him, he rolled his eyes. "I didn't kill her. But I forced Mark into doing something horrible to her. He didn't really have a choice as to what he did. I had a deadly blade held against his throat. He was going to do anything I told him to. I'm sure she's extremely pissed at me, but at least I don't have to worry about ever being hit on her again. Okay, who wants to go first?"

Might as well get it over with. I was about to tell him I wanted to, but Leo volunteered first. Donnie nodded as April, Casey, and May held onto Leo's arms. Donnie pulled out a blue band and tied it around Leo's upper arm. I'm not sure what the point of this was, but it squeezed his arm. Leo closed his eyes and tilted his head back. Donnie softly placed a kiss on Leo's forehead before sinking the needle into Leo's elbow. Leo barely winced. I watched as the little section attached to the needle filled with dark red liquid, blood. Oh, so that's how he plans on doing it. Okay, interesting.

Donnie untied the band from around Leo's arm and placed a Band-Aid over Leo's elbow. Leo smiled at Donnie. Donnie smiled slightly. "So, now that you have some of my blood, what do you need to do now?" Leo wondered. Donnie tilted his head back much like Leo had before digging the same needle into his own arm. I watched the blood drain from the little container. Donnie smiled sadistically.

I could already see the color return to his skin. It was really improving his health. And I was glad that it would be worth the blood loss. Donnie's lost so much blood recently, like he said, so a bit of blood from me should never matter to me. Donnie wiped off the needle before wrapping my arm with a red band tightly. It squeezed a bit.

"How can you be so sure that this isn't going to kill you?" May asked Donnie suddenly. Donnie looked at her.

"I've actually taken blood from all three of them. Mikey and Leo have A positive blood types and Raph has type O positive, and I have A positive, so it won't kill me by taking the wrong blood types. I couldn't guarantee it if I took blood from one of the others because I've never taken blood from them. And anyway, mixing their blood with mine, no matter what blood type they might have, could probably be very dangerous for me, since they're all completely different species from me. Mixing blood while I'm in my condition would not be smart. Also, I have no way to tell what blood types they have, so that would've left another problem for me. I'd rather play it safe right now," Donnie explained, smiling at her. "Thanks for the concern, but I've planned this for a while."

"That attack was planned?" Leo demanded. Donnie chuckled.

"Hell no. I never would've seen that one coming. I was planning on something like this happening soon. I was planning on needing blood from you three. I saw something like this happening from the beginning. That's why I took blood samples from you three. It's always been in my mind of something like that happening to me and me losing too much blood someway. So, be really grateful I'm thorough and I plan way ahead," Donnie told us. May smiled.

I scooted forward and let Donnie take blood from me. While he did this, he explained to us how exchanging blood worked. It was quite interesting. If you mixed the wrong blood type, you could die. So, that had been what May had asked Donnie about. So, I found out that I was special. Donnie had called my blood type the "universal donor," meaning my blood could be given to anyone—anyone turtle as Donnie had explained that mixing blood of species was bad—and it would work. Donnie, Mikey, and Leo had the same blood type, so they'd always be safe.

When it got to Mikey's turn, he refused to let Donnie take blood. And Mikey was lucky that Donnie had taken enough from Leo and me that Donnie didn't need Mikey's blood. And once everything was cleaned up, we all crowded around Donnie on the couch where he was relaxing. We all fell asleep by Donnie's sides, just really glad he was back. No matter what he had been through and what had happened tonight. Nothing would change our minds. We were all glad that Donnie was back.


End file.
